PokemonAdventure, Start!
by Destin of the blue flame
Summary: Yuki Snow started his Pokemon journey later than most people. What new adventures will he discover as the path takes him into the heart of battle and love? Pairing: OC/Vaporeon. Warning: don't read if you don't like human/Pokemon relationships
1. Chapter 1

Hello, thank you for looking into this story. It is my first one that I have finished and posted on so please be considerate as I try to work everything out with the site.

My apologies to those that started reading before I took it down and reposted it, but I think it'll be easier to read now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but I do own Yuki Snow, Antero Aki, Tsubasa Oak, and Kiiro.

Please Enjoy

Destin

Prologue:

"Misty? What's wrong darling?" A famous researcher named Gary Oak asked his wife as he hugged her from behind. His brown hair had grown longer with the years but he still managed to find a way to keep it spiked up and his lab coat acted more like a cape to him sometimes than being a lab coat. However, a glance at the TV told him what was bothering Misty. Ash Ketchum had just been crowned as the Pokémon Master of Kanto.

"Gary, do you think I made the wrong choice?" Misty asked her voice quiet.

"You're going to ask your husband if you made the wrong choice?" Gary teased and kissed Misty's neck, but he realized that Misty wasn't in much of a mood to joke around. "Here's the thing, that idiotic prick left you in order to pursue his dream of being the Pokémon Master."

"Yes, but now that he accomplish that, what if he comes back to find me?" Misty knew she had no regrets about marrying Gary, but a part of her heart still belonged to Ash.

"Then he'll just have to face the fact that the times have changed and-" He would have continued, but a small noise made him stop and look to the stairs.

"Mommy, daddy, I can't sleep. Can I have a glass of milk?" Their daughter said in a sleepy voice as she rubbed her eyes with one hand and held a Pokéball in the other. Misty walked over and picked her daughter up and though she always thought that she and Ash would be together, she could never deny the joy she had when she gave birth to hers and Gary's lovely daughter.

"Sure Tsubasa, let's go get you that milk." Misty smiled and kissed Tsubasa forehead and Gary made to follow, but the bell over the Poké-Gym door rang so he stayed behind to tell that person off.

"Sorry, we're closed for the night. Come back tomorrow." Gary said as he walked towards the cloaked person while mist began to creep over the floor towards him.

"I'm not interested in a Gym badge; I want something far more precious." The figure in the cloak said before he dramatically threw the cloak from him. He was dressed in all black with a red "R" on the front.

"You're with Team Rocket?" Gary asked, taken aback. "Well you picked the wrong Gym to mess with buddy. Either leave now or get ready to feel pain." He reached to his side for a Pokéball only to find them gone. _Crap, I forgot I left them besides the bed._ He thought to himself before he heard the Rocket ordered his Rattata to use tackle on him and he sure felt the attack as it knocked the wind out of him. Collapsing to the ground in pain, he hoped that Misty wouldn't be hurt.

When he came to later that night, he found that he was lying in his and Misty's bed. He shot up and jumped out of bed calling for Misty's name. As he bolted into the hallway, he heard crying from a few doors down and so he went to investigate and found Misty kneeling in front of Tsubasa bed. Coming up from behind her, he knelt beside her and put his arm on her shoulder. From the simple touch, Misty turned and buried her head into Gary's chest.

"They took Tsubasa." She said between sobs while Gary felt his blood run cold. He knew then two things. The first was the paralyzing fear a parent would feel if they lost their child and the other was that he was going to hunt down Team Rocket and murder every last member in order to save his daughter. Gary broke down and cried as he held his wife, promising he would find Tsubasa.

TWELVE YEARS LATER

Yuki Snow sighed when he heard his father telling him he had to come in for dinner. "It's always when the stories get good." He grumbled to himself. That much was true, whether it was saving the Digital World, summoning a Megazord to kick evil space alien butt, or going on adventures in a Police box, his parents always call him just as he was approaching the climax to his game. Still, being a fifteen-year-old needed energy so he went in and washed up.

"You know son, I have a surprise for you." His mother said when they were nearing the end of dinner.

"Really? What is it?" He asked excitedly, dinner be damned… or at least until he knew what the surprise was.

"Finish your dinner and we'll bring it out." His father told Yuki before ruffling his hair playfully and Yuki hardly wasted any time in finishing dinner.

A few minutes later and his mother brought out two boxes, one stacked on top of each other. After setting both boxes on the table, she carefully opened one to reveal a round cake with a Pokémon battle field with a figure of Yuki battling another trainer. "It's also your favorite ice-cream cake, mint chocolate chip." She smiled as Yuki took the figures off and acted out the battle in his mind with them being the ultimate victor.

"Now son, I know you're really excited about tomorrow." His father said when the cake was gone. "So, this is a present from us to you." He then handed the other box to Yuki who opened it to reveal a belt and five Pokéballs attached to it.

"Thanks Mom, thanks Dad." Yuki said as he held back tears of joy while hugging both parents.

"Now, these Pokéballs are empty, which means it'll be your job to fill them alright son?" His father explained as Yuki put the belt on and was ready to release a Pokémon.

"But why only five Pokéballs?"

"Because you'll receive your sixth one from the starter that you choose form Professor Oak tomorrow morning." His mother said.

"Oh right, I knew that." Yuki blushed a little not believing he forgot something so trivial but he played it off as too much excitement. "I love you two so much. But if I'm leaving tomorrow, I want to finish up my last adventure before I go to sleep tonight.

"Of course dear, you may do that." His mom agreed as she started to put the cake away.

"And go kick your enemy's butt while you're at it." His dad cheered him on.

Always being on that felt being on time wasn't enough, Yuki preferred to be at least a half hour early, which was why he stood in front of Professor Oak's laboratory. He thought about knocking but he didn't want to be rude by being impatient so he opted to just wait.

Inside the laboratory, Professor Oak walked around making sure things were ready for the new trainers and as he passed by the door, he saw a figure duck out of sight. With a sigh, he walked over to the main door and opened it. "Can I help you young man?"

Yuki jumped when he heard Professor Oak, having thought he disappeared before he was seen. "Um, yes… I'm sorry, I'm…." Yuki started to say but Professor Oak recognized him.

"You're Yuki Snow, one of the trainers scheduled to start today right?" Oak asked and Yuki nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, I can let you in early as long as you promise not to touch anything you see." Professor Oak stood back to let Yuki in and Yuki's jaw nearly dropped when he saw the various equipment decorated with good luck signs, streamers and other decorations.

"Wow, I've never seen your lab like this before." Yuki said in amazement.

"We just started doing it this year, since it's a yearly thing; we thought it would help to boost morale to liven up the place a little."

"It sure is great. Can I pick my Pokémon or should I wait for the others?" Yuki asked with barely contained excitement.

"I know it'll be hard, but please wait for the others. However, you may choose first since you were the first one here." Professor Oak said as he looked at the time. "Now if you excuse me, I have to make sure the preparations are complete."

"Of course Professor, I understand." Yuki bid Professor Oak bye for the time being and while Oak went around the lab, Yuki walked around the lobby while looking at various objects.

It was only twenty minutes, but it felt like an eternity for Yuki. At last a boy by the name of Aki and a girl by the name of Kiiro arrived. Aki wore blue jeans, a black under shirt and a red t-shirt over the top of it and had brown hair. Kiiro wore a tied dyed t-shirt, jean shorts, tennis shoes and had auburn colored hair. As the time grew closer, many people of Pallet Town came over to see which Pokémon each trainer would get.

Professor Oak cleared his throat as the crowd died down. "Thank you all for coming. As you know, we've had several stars that started their Pokémon journey from Pallet and each time, family and friends have come here to wish these three well on their journey." The town folks applauded and it took a couple minutes before they settled down so Professor Oak could speak again. "This year, I'm going to invite each of these three into the lab one at a time. They will know which Pokémon they choose, but we'll wait until everyone has their Pokémon before revealing them to the crowd." He then looked at Yuki. "Yuki, since you were the first one, please follow me."

Yuki nodded and followed Professor Oak into the lab and into the back of it. There sat a large Pokéball and with a push of the button, the top red part lifted up. "So I can choose any of the three?" He asked.

"Yes, if you don't like your choice, then you can pick a different Pokémon." Professor Oak explained and watched as Yuki picked Squirtle while Oak pulled out a Pokédex and opened it.

"Squirtle. After birth, its back swells and hardens into a shell. Powerfully sprays foam from its mouth." It spoke in an automotive voice.

"Will you choose Squirtle? The water starter?" Professor Oak asked.

"Yes, I choose Squirtle as my partner." Yuki said as he held the Pokéball as if it was made of glass.

"Very well, here is a Pokédex." Professor Oak said as he handed Yuki a Pokédex. "Please tell Aki to come to me."

Yuki nodded and bowed deeply in respect before he exited the lab and relayed the instructions to Aki. It took about the same amount of time for Aki to come out with a grin on his face while Kiiro went into the lab. It took a few minutes and when she came out, she looked sadden by something while Professor Oak came out after her and stood off to the side.

"Alright trainers, when I tell you to release your Pokémon, you may do so." Professor Oak said kindly and the entire area fell with a hush silence as they eagerly awaited the results. "Three… Two… One… Release your Pokémon!" As one, three Pokéballs hit the ground and three white lights blinded the people momentarily until it died down to reveal the Pokémon. Kiiro gotten Bulbasaur and Aki got Charmander.

Yuki, knowing the Pokémon by sight couldn't help but activate his new Pokédex and pointed it to Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur. A strange seed was planted on its back at birth. The plant sprouts and grows with this Pokémon." The voice spoke and then Yuki moved the Pokédex to face Charmander. "Charmander. Obviously prefers hot places. When it rains, steam is said to spout from the tip of its tail." Yuki looked amused as he shut the Pokédex and walked over to the other two. "Congratulations on your Pokémon."

"Thanks, that same to you." Aki said as they shook hands.

"Yeah, glad you got Squirtle." Kiiro said obviously upset about not receiving Squirtle.

Yuki put a hand onto Kiiro's shoulder. "Sorry about that, but I think Bulbasaur will fit you better." He spoke honestly and Kiiro smiled a little.

"Well, I'm going to head back to my home. I'm actually going to start my journey tomorrow instead." Kiiro said, still sad but glad that Squirtle seemed like it was in good hands.

"Hey, quickly, let's exchange phone numbers in case we find something interesting." Aki said as he pulled his phone out. Soon they had the others numbers in the phone and Aki waved as he started to walk away. "Take care and see you around."

"Sounds good. Take care yourself." He said to both Aki and Kiiro before facing Professor Oak and bowed. "Once more, I want to say thank-you." He picked up his bag and slung it onto his back.

"It was my pleasure. I'm sure you and Squirtle will become good friends." Professor Oak said as he watched Yuki turn and start heading for the exit.

At the end of town, he saw Aki leaning up against a tree. "Howdy Yuki. How about we have a practice battle right now?" He asked, easily clear to tell he was hoping Yuki would agree to it.

Yuki was hesitant since he didn't want to lose his first match or let Squirtle get hurt, but he calmly took a breath and knew this would be a great way to start the journey as well. "Sure, you're on Aki." Yuki called out Squirtle while Aki called out Charmander. "Squirtle, use tackle." He said and Squirtle obeyed him while Aki had Charmander use tackle as well. Each trainer was trying to fight as shadow of themselves as they had their Pokémon use the exact same moves until Yuki had an idea. "Squirtle, use tail whip followed quickly by a tackle."

Squirtle looked at Yuki and nodded before whipping his tail to lower Chiromancer's defense before launching into a tackle.

"Charmander, use tackle with everything you got!" Aki said in desperation. Both Pokémon's fist collided with the other and both fell backwards while the trainers stared in stunned silence. "Um, I guess it's a draw?" Aki asked after a couple of minutes of neither Pokémon moving.

"I… guess so." Yuki said, knowing neither expected their first battle to end in a draw. "We can heal them back at the lab, I'm sure Professor Oak wouldn't mind." They recalled their respective Pokémon and both headed to the lab, Professor Oak not seeming to be surprised that they came back so quickly. "Professor, forgive me but you seem like you were expecting us."

Professor Oak led them to a tray for six Pokéballs on it and instructed them to put the Pokémon on it. "I was. You see, you two remind me of my grandson, Gary, and Ash when they first started. They fought each other practically the moment they had their Pokémon, which is why I decided to get this healing unit in my lab in the first place." Professor Oak explained as the machine healed the Pokémon. When the Pokémon were fully healed, he handed the Pokéballs back to the trainers. "Alright, now this time try to make it out of Pallet before coming back here." He joked with them and they both agreed that would happen before leaving.

Once outside, Aki turned the other way. "Sorry Yuki, I'd travel with you, but I want to wrap something up at home before I leave."

"You just want to battle Kiiro before she leaves don't you?" Yuki asked and when he saw Aki nod, he knew he was right. "That's okay. Just give me a call after the battle to let me know what happened okay?" They said their good-byes and this time Yuki made it out of Pallet Town and onto route one. He suddenly wished he had his music with him and knew it wouldn't be hard to go back and grab his iPod, but at the same time he just wanted to get a move on his journey. He stopped not too far out on route one and looked back. "I'll be back with a whole team of Pokémon, just watch Pallet Town. I'll put Ash Ketchum to shame." With a smile, he turned away from Pallet Town, took a breath and continued on.

After a while, he stopped for lunch and he released Squirtle from its Pokéball. "Chow time Squirtle. And great job battling Charmander out there buddy." Yuki praised his Squirtle as he sat next to his trainer and munched on the Poké chow while Yuki ate a sandwich. After they ate, they rested under the shade of a tree for a bit before playing around having a mock battle between human and trainer. After an hour of playtime, Yuki felt that he should continue on so he recalled Squirtle to the Pokéball and went on his way.

As Yuki traveled on, he saw a Pidgey lying on the ground surrounded by a few more Pidgeys. Before Yuki did anything, he pulled out his Pokédex. "Pidgey. A common sight in forests and woods. It flaps its wings at ground level to kick up blinding sand." The voice told him and he looked around for a stick. Finding one, Yuki charged into the group of Pidgeys and scattering them quickly while he wield the stick like a Bo-staff. Reaching into his bag, he gave the injured Pidgey a potion to restore some of its health. "If you let me capture you, I'll be able to take you to a Pokécenter to heal you completely." He offered.

"Pid." Pidgey said and moved an inch closer to the Pokéball. Yuki took one of the Pokéballs and enlarged it while Pidgey touched the center with its beak and she disappeared while the center circle became white almost immediately.

"Just started and already have two Pokémon. Not bad if I say so myself." Yuki said as he stood up and continued on his journey, unaware of the many pairs of Pidgey eyes following him. He battled a few Rattatas but Squirtle seemed to beat them easily before he actually thought about catching one. Checking the map, he could only guess that he was about half way to Viridian City but a glance to the sky told him that he was going to lose daylight fast so he thought to set up camp for the night but since it looked to be a clear night so he unrolled his sleeping bag and was about to make a fire when a rustling sound alerted him to a new presence coming his way. Putting a hand onto Squirtle's Pokéball, he saw a gravely injured Pokémon come into the clearing carrying a small Pokéball in its mouth, the Pokéball had a large crack on the side that split both halves. The moment the Eevee cleared the grass, it collapsed. The normal tan and white fur were stained red with blood and something seemed to be eating at the poor thing's fur. Rushing over, he knelt down beside the Eevee and sprayed a potion onto it but it hardly had much effect. _Crap. This isn't good_. He thought as he darted over to his back pack and scrambled to find an antidote to cure what he thought was poison. A cry from the Pokémon alerted Yuki to the same group of Pidgeys trying to eat the Eevee.

"Get away from him you stupid birds!" Yuki shouted and this time used his bag to scare off the Pidgeys, only to accidently hit one and it landed on the ground. If looks could kill, Yuki would have been dead ten times over from the way the Pidgeys were staring at him. Yuki swallowed nervously. "Whoops, that was bad." He said as he saw the Pidgeys coming for him. Scooping up the Eevee and the Pokéball, he turned and began to run away from the Pidgeys, intent on taking the punishment instead of letting Eevee get injured anymore. After getting pecked a few times, Yuki released Squirtle and had him help fend off the Pidgeys if they got too close.

He didn't realize but the grass was soon becoming sand and the Pidgeys began to kick up a sandstorm to make it hard for Yuki to see while other Pidgeys continued to dive bomb him. "Squirtle…" He tried to give a command, but every time he opened his mouth sand would get in and so he had to spit it out instead. Suddenly Yuki felt rain falling on him and he looked around only to find Squirtle using its water gun to keep the sand down and to take the Pidgeys out of the sky. It took a while, but eventually the Pidgeys retreated and Yuki collapsed from exhaustion while the Eevee rolled out of his arms. Despite his panting, he sprayed two more potions onto Eevee and this time he was rewarded with a small lick on his hand for his effort.

"Squirtle, I want you to continue riding on my shoulder to help defend us. I'm going to get this Eevee to a Pokécenter if it's the last thing I do." Squirtle nodded in understanding and climbed onto Yuki's shoulder while Yuki picked up the Eevee and with great effort, he pushed himself to his feet and took one step, then another, then a third and finally he started sprinting once more. As he ran, he tried to keep his upper body still as possible, but with his harsh breathing, he wasn't sure how steady he was being.

Guided by the moonlight, he fought the urge to fall asleep and even had Squirtle use water gun on him and he could soon see the edge of Viridian City but with every step he took, the more energy he lost and he was nearly at the Pokécenter when he dropped to his knees and fell to the side. _No, I can't let the Eevee die now, not after I've come this far._ He thought and the last thing he saw was Squirtle running into the Pokécenter before he slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

He woke up in a soft bed that smelled sterile and opened his eyes slowly but shut them again because of the brightness of the light. After letting his eyes adjust to the light behind his eye lids, he opened them once more just as Nurse Joy walked in.

"Good afternoon. It's good to see you are awake." She said and began to check him over.

"Afternoon? Wait! What about the Eevee that was in my arms?" Yuki all but shouted and Nurse Joy put a finger over her lips before pointing down to the other end of the bed where Eevee laid curled up like a cat between Yuki's legs.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Nurse Joy asked softly as she sat down next to the bed and put the chart in her lap. Yuki then went on to explain what happened from when he met the Eevee and until he passed out. "I have to admit, I have never seen a Squirtle care for a trainer that they met the very same day. He all but dragged me out of the Pokécenter." Nurse joy smiled. "The little Eevee was poisoned and we were able to treat it the moment you got her here and it's a good thing too, a few more minutes and she could have lost her life."

Yuki felt his blood run cold. "She… was that close to… dying?"

"Yes, thankfully those potions you had helped to keep her alive long enough. Though I'm sure they didn't look like they did anything right?" She stood up as Yuki nodded. "I've completely healed all your Pokémon but I think you should spend the night in bed to rest your body." She didn't hear anything from Yuki and when she looked down at him, she found him already asleep. "Sleep tight little trainer, rest peacefully knowing you saved a life." She whispered softly as she turned off the light and left the room.

The next time Yuki awake, Nurse Joy treated him to a fancy all-you-can-eat buffet in honor of him saving Eevee's life. "Have you thought what you're going to do with the Eevee?" She asked as they headed back to the room he was staying in.

"I found this with Eevee, but I've never seen a Pokéball split like this before." Yuki said as he handed over the Pokéball.

Nurse Joy examined it for a moment. "There are two ways for a trainer to abandon a Pokémon. They can either break the Pokéball or they can crack it so the Pokémon can't return to the Pokéball but they're still tied to that trainer. This crack means that the trainer did the crueler of the two methods."

"So then until I can get the Pokéball open to break it, Eevee won't officially be mine?' Yuki asked as he looked at the Pokéball and tried to enlarge it only to have it do nothing.

"That's right. Maybe if you were to take it to the Pewter City Gym they could break it open but we just don't have the ability to. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Nurse Joy, you've been a big help already, at least now I know what I can and can't do." When they got back to the room, a ball of tan and white cried happily and jumped from the bed and onto Yuki's chest and he caught her before getting attacked by happy licks. "I see you're doing better." He heard Pidgey call out as well and he held out an arm so Pidgey could fly over and land on his arm. "And you're feeling better than you were as well." He walked to his bed and the two Pokémon hopped onto the bed sheet before he put the Pokéballs on the bed in front of them.

"I'll leave you now; just call me if you need anything." Nurse Joy said before she left and closed the door behind her.

Yuki waited until the door was closed before turning back to his Pokémon. "Now, I want to be fair with you. I technically haven't caught you by battle. Pidgey, I told you that I would help you get better if you came with me but I'm willing to let you go free now. Just do what you want." He watched as Pidgey looked out the window for several minutes before she hopped over and went inside the Pokéball.

"Eevee, technically you still belong to your old trainer…" As he said he, he noticed Eevee look fearful as her ears flatten themselves against her head and back away. "…but, though I can't officially claim you as mine, I can let you travel along side me on my adventure." Eevee's ears perked up and she looked hopeful. "I would love to have your company if you want to travel with me." Eevee walked up to Yuki, put her front paws onto his chest and bumped his chin with her head. "I take it that you want to travel with me?" Eevee chirped happily in response. The phone started to ring and Yuki answered it. "Yuki Snow speaking."

"Hey, it's Aki." Aki said on the other side. "You won't believe this. Kiiro and I tied just like we did to each other."

"Wow. What did Professor Oak say when he saw you came from route one?" Yuki asked as he petted Eevee.

"I told him that I went two steps further than I did yesterday." They both laughed for a bit. "So what happened with you so far? Where are you at now?"

"Well, I'm already in Viridian City." Yuki had to hold the phone away from his ear when Aki shouted "WHAT?!" "Yeah, here's why." Yuki then described the details which allowed him to get to Viridian City so fast.

"Wow, that's good. Then I'll just have to run all the way from Pallet to Pewter City to get a step ahead of you." Aki laughed and he sounded serious.

"I'm not in a race Aki, I just want to enjoy myself and take things as they come along, but you're more than welcome to run past me." Yuki laughed as well.

"We'll see I got to get going, my phone's about to die."

"No Problem Aki, talk to you later. Oh hey, I'll wait for you in Pewter City, there's something I need to get taken care of and the sooner the better."

"Okay, I'll meet up with you there. Later."

"Bye." Yuki said and the call ended before he had a chance to hang up. Looking around the room, he stretched and changed into his pajamas. "I'll spend one more night here and leave in the morning." He told the empty room and was soon asleep.

With a heavy sigh, Yuki made sure that his backpack was on his back securely, a final check of all the Pokéballs he had and that Eevee was at his side. "Thank you again Nurse Joy." He said and looked down at Eevee. "Ready to go girl?" Eevee nodded and the two began their journey once more.

They were nearly on the outskirts of town when he saw the Pokémon Gym and he decided to take a look in the place knowing that he wasn't ready to challenge a Gym Leader just yet. To his dismay, he found it locked and his shoulders slumped.

"Don't feel too down kid." An old man said to him. "The Gym has been closed for at least fifteen years now."

"You're serious, I'm fifteen now and the Gym has been closed since I've been alive?"

"It would seem that way. I'm guessing you don't know the reason."

Yuki shook his head. "No I don't. What happened?"

The old man stroked his beard for a moment. "Oh, about twelve years ago, the daughter of Misty and Gary Oak was kidnapped. Now Gary… Professor Gary Oak was the eighth Gym Leader and in charge of the Viridian City Gym but once his daughter was kidnapped; he pretty much stopped caring for Pokémon battles and dedicated to finding the kidnappers."

"Has she been found yet?" Yuki asked, already figuring the answer based on the information the old man had told him.

"Sadly, no she never was found. They called off the search after five years figuring she was dead." The old man wiped a tear from his eye.

"What was the girl's name?"

"She was Tsubasa Oak."

Yuki thanked the old man for the information and he continued on his way with Eevee walking next to him and they soon entered the Viridian forest. As they walked through the forest, Yuki pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at Eevee. "Eevee. Its genetic code is irregular. It may mutate if it is exposed to radiation from element stones."

"Huh? Element stones?" Yuki question and the Pokédex seemed to have an answer for him.

"Element stones or evolutionary stones are special stones that enable certain Pokémon to evolve. There are fire, water, thunderstone, leaf and moon stone." As it spoke the elements, it also flashed pictures of them on the screen. Yuki was going to ask it another question but someone shouted which caused him to look over where the shout came from and he groaned as he saw a trainer carrying a bug net coming towards him.

"Can I help you?" Yuki asked, still not a hundred percent sure about these kinds of things.

"Yeah, since we crossed paths, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" The generic Bugcatcher exclaimed while striking a pose.

Yuki smiled. "Sure, it'll be nice to have an actual battle. Prepare to be beaten."

"I think you're the one that's going to lose. Caterpie, come on out!" The Bugcatcher summoned Caterpie and Yuki took out the Pokédex.

"Its short feet are tipped with suction pads that enable it to tirelessly climb slopes and walls." The Pokédex informed him.

"Alright then, Squirtle…" Yuki paused as he felt a slight tug on his leg and he looked down to see Eevee looking up at him hopefully. "… You want to battle? Alright then, go get that Caterpie by using tackle." Yuki watched as Eevee listened to him despite him not being her trainer. The Caterpie used string shot and it wrapped around Eevee's legs but she freed herself in time to avoid a tackle attack. Eventually Eevee emerged as the victor while the Bugcatcher recalled his Caterpie and sent out Weedle.

"Weedle. Often found in forests, eating leaves. It has a sharp venomous stinger on its head."

"Thank you Pokédex. Eevee, return and rest for a while." Yuki said kindly as Eevee looked worn out. Once Eevee was at his side, he sent out Pidgey. As Pidgey came out, Weedle looked terrified of the bird Pokémon and Yuki wasn't sure why until he did the math in his head, then he understood. _Birds eat worms, Weedle is a worm and Pidgey is a bird. This should be great._ He thought to himself. "Pidgey, use tackle." Pidgey cried out in response and flew into the air before swooping around and heading straight for Weedle. However, a white light enveloped Weedle and when it died down; a new Pokémon was in its place. "What's that one?"

"Kakuna. Almost incapable of moving, this Pokémon can only harden its shell to protect itself from predators." Yuki felt a sense of dread as he watched Pidgey's beak smack into the hard shell of Kakuna and as she tried to break the shell to no avail. Meanwhile the Bugcatcher couldn't believe his luck that he got a Pokémon to evolve and was so happy that he called Kakuna to use tackle, but Kakuna only succeeded in falling over.

"Pidgey, use gust." Yuki called out and Pidgey flew into the sky once more before flapping its wings to create a gust attack and even with Kakuna's harden shell, it was pinned down unable to get up until it passed out from the pressure of the wind.

"No way! I can't lose like this!" Bugcatcher exclaimed and he recalled Kakuna. "Here, take your money and get out of my sight." He threw the money to the ground and stomped off.

"What crawled up his ass?" Yuki wondered as he knelt down to collect the money he won. With that passed, he picked Eevee up and sprayed a potion onto her before he petted her while he walked. He thought about capturing a Weedle and Caterpie but he just didn't feel like catching anything else until he could be sure that Eevee could be claimed as his.

Not much further he exited the Viridian forest and decided to take it easy and continue to walk towards Pewter City even if it meant he was going to be walking under the moonlight. He stopped only twice to battle a trainer or random Pokémon but the battles cost him time and he ended up carrying a sleeping Eevee in his arms and as he got closer, lamps lit his way into the city.

"Halt right there. What are you doing with that Pokémon?" A sharp voice halted Yuki and he turned to see a woman in a police uniform. "I'm going to ask you again, what are you doing carrying a Pokémon in your arms like that?"

The sudden noise woke Eevee up and she glared at the police officer. "It's okay Eevee, go back to sleep." Yuki said after Eevee let out a large yawn and she closed her eyes once more after snuggling into his arms again. "I apologize officer, you see, I saved this Eevee from death because her trainer abandoned her to the world by doing this." Yuki held the Pokéball in front of him so the Officer could see.

"I see, I'm sorry to have bothered you with that. It's just that we've had a couple of Pokémon that were kidnapped." The Officer said. "Where's my manners? I'm Officer Jenny." She held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you Officer Jenny. I'm Yuki Snow." Yuki said as he put the Pokéball back on his belt before shaking Officer Jenny's hand. "If you like, I can see if I can help you get the Pokémon that were kidnapped back."

"You're too kind Yuki, but I guess if you want to help then you can." Officer Jenny said. "You'll probably be able to get into places better than I can without being given away."

"Sure, I'll do that but first I want to heal my Pokémon and to break Eevee's Pokéball." Yuki admitted as he already made it a top priority to heal at every Pokécenter the moment he entered a city or town.

"Sure. Since it's night, the Gym won't be open, but just follow this road and you'll find the Pokécenter, it's quite hard to miss." She was just about to let Yuki go but quickly stopped him. "Say, why don't I get your number so I can call you if I find any new leads." Yuki agreed and they quickly exchanged numbers before Yuki walked to the Pokécenter and was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Nurse Joy? How did you get here so fast?" Yuki asked as he approached the counter.

"I don't understand the question. Have we met young man?" Nurse Joy asked him back looking puzzled.

"I just saw you in the Pokécenter back in Viridian City and I'm sure I would have remembered seeing you pass me."

Nurse Joy suddenly smiled. "Oh, I'm afraid you have me mistaken for my sister back in Viridian City. Here, take a look." She walked him over to a wall which a picture hung there showing nine women all identical. "You see, I'm the Nurse Joy of Pewter City. My Sisters are Nurse Joy as well."

Yuki's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me?" He asked and looked at the picture. "I can't tell you apart at all."

"Here I am." Nurse Joy pointed to one of them in the back. "Don't worry; you're not the first one to make that mistake." She put an arm on Yuki's shoulder and led him back to the counter. "I suppose you want to heal your Pokémon?"

"Yes, and Eevee-"

"I know, Officer Jenny called ahead to warn me." After taking his Pokéballs, they gently transferred Eevee from one set of arms to the other and she took them to be healed why Yuki walked to a room reserved for trainers that wanted to spend the night. On the way over, he walked past a grown man with spiked brown hair and they exchanged polite greetings.

With a sigh, Yuki sat down on a cot and thought about the adventure he had beforehand and it made him wonder why he didn't start the journey earlier. With the lights being dimmed, he soon was asleep.

The next time he woke up, he thought it was morning already due to high bright the place was when he was shook awake. Then he saw that they were being under attacked and since he had fallen asleep wearing his clothes, he jumped off the cot and reached for his Pokémon but remembered that he had given them to Nurse Joy. Grabbing his bag, he ran out to the lobby to see people running around and panicking while trying to get away from the fire and he fought his way to the counter. "Nurse Joy, I need my Pokémon." He said only to find Nurse Joy was gone. _Crap, I need to help them._ He thought before remembering Officer Jenny's number so he fought the crowd again to find a place that wasn't too loud and quickly called her. "Office Jenny, I need your help. The Pokécenter is on fire." He soon hung up because Officer Jenny could see the flames and was on her way already. _Now what?_ He thought as he was forced to crouch down to avoid the smoke. He really didn't want to leave his Pokémon behind but he didn't have any idea where they were until he saw a tan shape running towards him.

"Eevee, am I glad to see you." Yuki said before covering his mouth with his shirt to keep the smoke out and then he realized what Eevee had in her mouth. "Thanks. Now let's put this fire out." He said as he took the belt from Eevee and put it around his waist. Calling out Squirtle and was almost nearly on the floor to avoid the smoke. "Squirtle, use water gun here first, then start washing the smoke away towards the ceiling." Squirtle did so and once the ceiling was clear of smoke, he released Pidgey. "Pidgey, use gust to blow the smoke away and don't inhale it alright?" Pidgey obeyed and the area around them began to become clearer. With plenty of breathing room, he began to move around the Pokécenter to help put out the fire. Since the fire had been put out on the inside, Yuki and his Pokémon ran outside in time to see a Geodude throw a handful of dirt at the flames along and not too far from the Pokémon stood the same trainer he saw earlier with an Onix.

"Good of you to help. I'm Brock." Brock introduced himself. "From what I can tell, the hot spot is over there." He pointed to an area where the flames did seem hotter than the others.

"Nice to meet you Brock, I'm Yuki." He said and had Pidgey carry Squirtle up to get a better chance at hitting the hotspot. They heard a groan and both trainers turned to see Onix lifting itself up from an attack from a fire Pokémon.

"What the hell?" Yuki asked as he looked to the middle of the street and saw two figures, one male and the other female, dressed in all black with a large, single "R" on the front of their chest. The only difference was that the male had green hair where as the female had red hair. "Who are they?"

"They're part of an organization of Team Rocket. Haven't you heard about them yet?" Brock replied.

"I've heard about them but this is the first time that I've seen them in person. What about you?"

"I've seen them before several times." _Though the last time was twelve years ago._ Brock thought to himself as he sized up the situation. _A __Growlithe__ and a Staryu. I can handle the Growlithe without much trouble but the Staryu has me worried._

Yuki, having never seen either of the Pokémon in person, he opened his Pokédex for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. "Growlithe. Very protective of its territory. It will bark and bite to repel intruders from its space." Yuki moved the Pokédex over to the other Pokémon. "Staryu. An enigmatic Pokémon that can effortlessly regenerate any appendage it loses in battle."

Besides him, Eevee hid behind Yuki's leg and was shaking so hard that Yuki felt it and he knelt down. "What is it Eevee?" He followed her stare to the male Team Rocket member and then it hit him. "Hey, green hair person. Did you happen to leave an Eevee alone to die about a week ago?"

"Yes I did, why did you come across its corpse on the way here?" The male Rocket laughed.

Yuki growled as he stood up slowly. "You bastard." He removed the cracked Pokéball from his side and threw it between them.

"What's so special about a Pokéball that's damaged? Wait, I remember that crack." The male rocket laughed and pointed at Eevee. "That worthless ball of fur is really the same one that I almost let die? Oh that's just too great."

"Eevee. I know you're scared of him now. But I will kill him." Yuki said between gritted teeth. "Eevee, keep the Growlithe off me alright?"

"Wait Yuki, Onix will keep Growlithe off you since fire isn't very effective against rock type. But Eevee will have to battle the Staryu because rock is weak against water type." Brock advised and wondered what Yuki had in mind.

"Fine, whatever." Yuki growled as he ran towards the Male Rocket. The Growlithe tried to intercept, but it was barreled out of the way by Onix while Eevee took on Staryu. Yuki gave a battle cry and Pokémon battles be damned, he wanted to cause as much pain as possible to the male Rocket.

By the time Officer Jenny arrived, the male Rocket had a swollen cheek, a split lip, a black eye forming and multiple bruises forming on the rest of his body. Brock actually had to have Onix wrap Yuki up to pull him off the rocket member. Officer Jenny took the male Rocket into custody but the female Rocket had disappeared into the night. When Yuki had settled down, he had several bruises as well and a black eye and several cuts due to the male Rocket pulling out a knife at some point in the fight.


	3. Chapter 3

Yuki was told to take it easy for a couple of days but he was free to wander around and train his Pokémon providing he didn't push himself too much. The first thing he did was to go to the Pewter City Gym and was surprised to find Brock there as well. "What are you doing here Brock? I thought you were just a trainer?"

"I was seventeen years ago, but I've always been a Gym Leader." Brock smiled. "And no, you are not fit to battle me today. I will admit I'm impressed at your method to putting out the fire but I do not want you to hurt yourself."

Yuki shook his head. "Actually, that's not the reason why I'm here." Taking a deep breath, he recited the story how Eevee and he had met. "So you see, I was hoping you might be able to break this Pokéball." He handed Brock the Pokéball and Brock stared at it intently.

"I think I might be able to open it, but it may take a while. Why don't you go wander around the city for now? I'm afraid you should leave Eevee here in case someone else tries to capture her."

Eevee looked afraid, but Yuki told her that Brock was a good guy and so she hesitantly walked over to Brock. "Thanks Brock. You're a live saver." Yuki bowed and left the Gym. Deciding it wouldn't hurt, he decided to go to the museum and was more than willing to pay the admission but he found out that he could go in for free. From the outside, the building didn't look very big but on the inside it seemed huge.

"Hey Yuki! Over here!" Aki shouted when he saw his friend, getting dirty looks for yelling in a building but he didn't care.

"Hey Aki, when did you get here?" Yuki asked as he walked over to his friend.

"I got in this morning and wow, what happened to you this time?" He asked once Yuki was closer. "You weren't involved in saving a Pokécenter were you?"

"Yep, I was one of the few that actually did something and ran into Team Rocket while I was at it." Yuki replied. "Hence why I have these bandages and a black eye." As they looked at the fossils of the long extinct Pokémon, they filled each other in on their latest adventures.

"Oh yeah, speaking of Pokécenters, I have what I'm assuming is your sleeping bag? I think it's yours since there was a pile of wood that looked like it was ready to provide a fire. It's in the Pokécenter with my stuff."

"Okay, great. How's Kiiro doing?"

"She's doing good. Actually she's with me but she said she was hungry so she went to look for food." His phone buzzed and he looked at it. "Speak of the devil."

"And fear his wrath." Yuki chimed in before Aki answered the phone. "Don't tell her I'm here." He mouthed to Aki and he gave Yuki a thumbs up.

A couple minutes later, he hung up. "Kiiro says she found a good place to eat at. You're welcome to join us if you want."

"Of course, with all the crazy things happening to me I need some time with friends from my hometown." Yuki agreed and walked with Aki to a small restaurant with a little patio on front.

"Hey Kiiro, I'm here." Aki said after tapping Kiiro on the shoulder. Kiiro stood up and turned around when she saw Yuki.

"Hey Yuki, Aki didn't tell me you were here." She hugged him in a bone crushing hug.

"That's because I met him on the way over here." Yuki replied before they walked around to the opening in the fence and joined Kiiro at the table. "I have to ask, are you still upset about not having Squirtle?"

Kiiro shook her head. "No, I've gotten over it and I see what you mean, Bulbasaur is a better fit for me anyway. So I'm glad that I didn't get my first choice. It just shows that Pokémon and humans can work together to be an effective team as ever."

"That's good to hear." Yuki said, glad that Kiiro still wasn't upset over it. "Now I suppose you're wondering why I'm bandaged up?" He asked and was going to tell Kiiro what happened but his phone rang with an unknown number. "Aki, can you tell the story, I want to find out who this is." He said and Aki agreed while Yuki went to take the call. "Hello, Yuki speaking."

"Yuki, hey, it's Brock the Gym Leader. Good news, my Geodude was able to break the Pokéball open so if you wouldn't mind, can you pick up Eevee before someone else tries to catch her?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a couple of minutes." Yuki hung up and ran over to his friends. "Sorry guys, I'll be right back." He then took off running for the Gym. Along the way, he didn't expect a girl to round a corner and he collided with her. After picking himself up and brushing himself off, he offered to help her up. "I'm sorry about that; I should have been paying more attention."

"It's okay. I should have been paying attention myself." She took his hand and let him help her up. As she looked up into his eyes, she gasped and quickly pulled her hand away. "Sorry, I have to go. Bye." She then ran off.

_Odd, red hair and green eyes. That's not something you see every day. Oh yeah, Eevee._ He chuckled to himself and figured he would look into the girl a little later. He arrived at the Gym without any further problems and Eevee pounced on him happily. "I take it you missed me?" he chuckled and scratched Eevee's head. "Let's get you into a Pokéball real quick okay." Eevee hopped out of his arms and he put a Pokéball down and Eevee activated it before she went inside. Yuki waited a couple of seconds before releasing Eevee once more as Brock walked up. "Thanks for everything Brock."

"It's not a problem. I'm just glad I was able to help." Brock said as he waved bye to Yuki. "See you in a couple of days."

Yuki paused just outside the door and looked back. "You bet." The door slid close behind them and they walked back to the restaurant and rejoined Aki and Kiiro. "Hey guys, this is the Eevee I've told you about."

Kiiro squealed and picked Eevee up. "Oh she's so cute. I wish I had one." She nuzzled Eevee before looking at Yuki. "How come you get all the really cool Pokémon?"

Yuki shrugged. "I just happen to be in the right place at the right time. But remember, Eevee was close to dying on me. It took pretty much everything I had to keep her alive long enough." He scratched Eevee's head. "And I'm glad all the potions paid off otherwise we wouldn't be partners." Eevee lightly nibbled on Yuki's finger before she hopped out of Kiiro's arms and into Yuki's lap where she curled up and snoozed.

"So it's official, you're Eevee's trainer now?' Aki asked and Yuki nodded. "Wicked. Come on Kiiro, I got to find an injured Pokémon to save." He said and was going to stand up before Yuki grabbed his arm.

"Slow down man, aren't you going to get the Boulder badge from Brock?" Yuki asked but Aki shook his head.

"Naw, I'd rather just see all the Pokémon."

"But Aki, if you don't, then some of the stronger Pokémon might not obey you if you tried to use them." Kiiro reasoned.

"Oh, then I guess I better if I need to succeed on the quest." Aki agreed and leaned back in his seat as Kiiro stood up.

"I'm going to go look at the museum. Shall I just meet you back at the Pokécenter?" Kiiro asked.

"Sure, I think we're going to go train a little bit." Yuki replied with a smile.

"If that's the case, can you wait for me please? I want to watch and train with you guys."

"How about having a three way battle?" Aki suggested. "Each of us against the other two with one Pokémon each?" Yuki and Kiiro agreed that it would be fun to do so they set a time to train on the outskirts of Pewter City. Kiiro went off to visit the museum while Aki and Yuki hung out until it was time to go meet up with Kiiro.

"Geez, you boys sure are slow." Kiiro teased as they approached her.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Hope you're not too rested that you can't move." Yuki teased back as the three of them took a place to form a triangle and each released their starter Pokémon. "Battle begins now." He called out and the three launched into their various attacks. It soon became apparent that the elemental attacks wouldn't work for anytime a fire attack was launched, water put it out and anytime leaves tried to move, they were burned to a crisp.

"YUKI! WATCH OUT!" Kiiro shouted as Yuki felt something slashed at his back and he looked behind him to see the male Rocket holding a bloody knife while his back hurt painfully.

"You just messed up for the last time." Aki said as he and Kiiro rushed to Yuki's side to help support him.

"I'm dead anyway, so I thought I would take him with me." The Rocket smirked as he released six Rattatas. "Good luck getting to me this time."

Yuki released Pidgey and had Pidgey and Eevee deal with the Rattatas. "He's not living anymore. I don't care if I have to give my Pokédex back, scum like him doesn't deserve to live." Each of the three trainers chose their elemental attack and had the attacks combined into one cyclone and though the Rocket tried to get out of the way, he was ultimately too slow and began to cry out in pain until he was burnt all over and covered with his own blood. What surprised the young trainer was that Eevee used tackle against the Rocket's ribcage several times. By the third attack, he snapping of ribs could be heard and it was then that they witnessed just how much hate a Pokémon could have hidden when treated wrong.

"Eevee, stop before you kill yourself as well." Yuki said and he watched Eevee slump to the ground with tears coming from her eyes while Pidgey, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander comfort Eevee while bringing her back to her trainer. "Let's get back to the Pokécenter." They recalled their Pokémon but Yuki just scooped Eevee into his arms despite the pain his back felt. Kiiro took Eevee while Aki helped keep Yuki upright.

"You really have got to get life insurance if you're going to be attacked like this every day." Aki teased and even Yuki chuckled.

What sucked the most was the fact that Yuki was going to be confined to a bed for a while with his new injury but Aki wasn't going to move on until Yuki could watch his Gym battle and Kiiro wasn't going to go on without either of them so they both used that time to train and catch new Pokémon on the off chance they would be attacked by Team Rocket again in the near future.

One day, while it was just Yuki and his Pokémon alone in the room, he had Eevee sit beside him. "Eevee, normally I frown upon killing at all cost, but based on what I've seen with you and the way he treats all Pokémon, I'm actually glad that he's dead. So don't feel bad alright?" He patted Eevee's head and she agreed with his words.

It was finally a week before Yuki was allowed to move and the first thing he did was walk over to the gym and watched Aki fight against Brock. It was a close match since fire type had the disadvantage but Aki held on to the end. It finally came down to Brock's Onix and Aki's Charmander. There was a large explosion and the audience waited with silence to see who the victor would be and as the dust began to settle, Onix came into view spread out along the ground and then came Charmander, who was panting heavily and used both legs and an arm to keep itself up.

"Onix is unable to battle. The victory goes to the challenger, Aki!" The judge declared before Aki got the Boulder badge from Brock. Aki ran over to join Yuki and Kiiro while showing off his new badge. That night, the three friends celebrated to Aki's and his Pokémon's success. For most of the night, it was a replay of their favorite parts from the battle and the celebration lasted well into the night.

A lone figure knelt down in the shadows and she knew it was dark enough that her hair wouldn't give her away. She currently was on the phone. "…my partner was an idiot sir… yes I know he should have waited but he didn't and now he's dead… NO! I'm not working with anyone else from now on unless you find someone with half a brain…" She fell silent when her boss' voice shouted through the phone and she wondered, not for the first time, if she had went too far. "Yes sir, I apologize. I'll obey you and your decisions." The person on the other end said something and the line went dead. "Yes boss, I'll reclaim the Eevee." She looked up and the light hit her eyes revealing cat eyes that glowed yellow.

Kiiro was the first to wake up and she silently walked over to the window so she didn't wake anyone else up. When she reached the window, she sighed and rested her arms on the windowsill as she looked out at the near empty street.

"I didn't think you were going to be up this early." Yuki said as he joined her.

"Yeah, force of habit. Plus I've been rethinking about the entire battling thing. I think I'm going to become a breeder instead."

"Ah, well if that's what you want to do." Yuki said as he looked at Kiiro. "I'm sure Brock will be able to help you if you want. But does that mean you might stay behind?"

"Yeah, I'd like to learn more about being a breeder before I go any further." Kiiro confirmed. Meanwhile Aki opened his eyes and saw Kiiro and Yuki being close to each other and he narrowed his eyes trying to hear what they were saying but to no avail. As they turned back towards the room, he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. "Come on Aki, wake up will you? We're getting ready to leave pretty soon." She said while shaking Aki's shoulder until he opened his eyes and sat up.

"I'm going to get ready and I'll meet you for breakfast okay?" Yuki said before he went off to another part of the Pokécenter.

"Think he'll do alright today?" Kiiro asked Aki once Yuki was out of hearing range.

"I expect him to pass with flying colors. The amount of dedication he's shown despite the start he had just showed he cares a lot." Aki said as he looked from the direction Yuki had gone to Kiiro.

"I know, it's just that about yesterday." She felt Aki's hand on her arm.

"He'll be fine. He was pushed quite far though."

"You're right, guess we better so grab something to eat."

"The challenger, Yuki, will now battle against the Pewter City Gym Leader Brock for the Boulder badge." The referee announced. "Challenger, are you ready?" Yuki nodded. "Gym Leader, are you ready?" Brock nodded as well. "Send out your first Pokémon." Brock sent out Geodude and Yuki sent Pidgey.

"What the heck is he thinking?" Aki questioned as the Pokémon appeared. "Remembered how I said he should pass with flying colors, I wish to retract that statement." Kiiro chuckled but covered her face with her hands.

"Pidgey, stay away from Geodude as much as possible. But attack when you can." Yuki said as Pidgey took to the sky. He realized his mistake but he figured this way Pidgey could gain some experience. Geodude waited for Pidgey to get close and tried to use tackle but Pidgey dodged it at the last second and this method went on for a bit of time until Geodude was becoming tired from all the power it used. Since the attacks were coming slower now, Pidgey used gust to blow the dust from the battlefield up into the air to help cover herself as she flew passed Geodude several times and hitting the opposing Pokémon with a tackle on every pass.

Geodude began watching the dust as it shifted direction where Pidgey flapped her wings and it waited for the right moment before throwing a fist out and sending Pidgey reeling away. She hopped to her feet and took to the sky once more. However, it was ultimately Geodude that emerged victorious as Pidgey lay sprawled out on the floor.

"Good job Pidgey, have a rest." Yuki said before recalling Pidgey and thought about which Pokémon he wanted to use next. "Well, might as well give myself the advantage. Come out Squirtle!" He released the turtle Pokémon and Squirtle looked around trying to find its opponent. "Use water gun to clear the area around you." Squirtle did so and as the dust turned to mud and fell, Geodude became visible until it was hit by the stream of water and fainted.

"Geodude, return. Onix, come on out." The large rock snake Pokémon looked down at Squirtle before letting out a screech that made everyone including the audience cover their ears. With everyone momentarily distracted, Onix dove to the ground and sent up a large cloud of dirt and mud only to find a crater and nothing else. "Onix, on your back." Brock called out.

"Water gun Squirtle!" Yuki called out and Squirtle blasted Onix with another stream of water while Onix groaned in pain until it managed to knock Squirtle off with its tail. Water dripped off Onix's body as he stared down Squirtle once more. "Let's go with a bubble attack." Squirtle used bubble but Onix moved behind Squirtle and wrapped its tail around the turtle Pokémon and began to squeeze. _I won't lose my first gym battle but I need to think._ Yuki thought as Squirtle tried to use water gun but every time Onix squeeze tighter. _That's it!_ "Squirtle, use water gun to hit the sprinkler system." Squirtle took a moment to concentrate before shooting a small stream of water straight up and managed to break the small red capsule which caused the sprinkler system to activate and it rained on Onix, who soon succumbed to the weakness and hit the ground with a crash that shook the gym. As that happened, Squirtle was freed and he rolled a few times before standing up tall and proud.

"Onix is unable to battle. Challenger Yuki is the victor." The referee declared as someone went to turn off the sprinkler system and it stopped raining soon after. Both trainers met in the middle of the arena.

"Great battle, particularly the use of the sprinklers. Here's the Boulder badge." Brock said and held out the first of eight badges.

"Thanks Brock, you did well yourself." Yuki said as he took the badge and looked at it.

"Just a word of caution, don't use flying type against rock or ground, as I'm sure you already saw."

"I know, but it was part of my plan." Yuki grinned. "I wanted Pidgey to weaken Geodude for Squirtle or Eevee to pave the way to victory." He said and was glomped from behind by Kiiro.

"Guess we have to celebrate again tonight?" She said happily as she looked at the badge.

"I'm fine, I just want to put on dry clothes and relax. See you around Brock." Yuki said as he walked away from Brock while Kiiro stayed behind.

"Congrats man, but what's Kiiro staying behind for?" Aki asked as he pulled his wet shirt from his body.

"Kiiro is thinking about becoming a Pokémon breeder, so she might stay behind with Brock to study under him." Yuki said as they headed back to the Pokécenter.

"Just being a breeder? Sounds boring as all hell." Aki put his hands into his pockets while Yuki put his hands behind his head.

"I'm with you, but if that makes her truly happy, then should we deny her that pleasure?" Yuki asked.

"Geez whiz, don't you go and get wise on me buddy." Aki poked Yuki in the arm.

They decided to head out that next morning and when they did, Brock and Kiiro were there to see them off.

"Try not to have too much fun without me okay?" Kiiro threatened playfully. "Otherwise I'll beat you up for every time."

The boys laughed and waved as they started walking onto route 3. Along the way, they both alternated who fought the trainers and they didn't have much luck with wild Pokémon until they happen to catch Pikachu. They walked a bit more when Yuki suggested they stopped to have something to eat. "You seem quiet today Antero. You're not missing Kiiro by chance are you?" Yuki asked as they ate lunch.

"And what if I am?" Aki snapped back clearly getting defensive.

"It's okay to miss a friend." Yuki said as he set his sandwich down. "I'm not going to tease you about it if that's what you're worried out. I was just curious since you don't seem to have that fire you had when you were facing Brock."

Aki sighed. "Sorry for snapping at you, it just feels weird because I travelled with her all the way from Pallet town and then she decides to stay behind."

"Wait, what? You two seriously travelled together from home?" Yuki asked, surprised by the news. "You never told me that information."

"I didn't? Oh, sorry, I thought I did." Aki apologized and looked away to hide the faint blush on his cheeks.

"Dude, you should have said something before we left Pewter City. If that was the case I would have said we were going to stay there until Kiiro felt confident enough to travel with us.

"That's exactly why I didn't say anything until now. You have that spirit that wants to keep moving and I couldn't tie you down just because of someone else." Aki reasoned. "Besides, even if I had said that, Kiiro would all but push you out of Pewter City."

"Yeah, I suppose that might have been true." Yuki bit his lip wishing he had said they could spend longer in Pewter City but knew Aki was right about Kiiro pushing him out the door. "Alright, but don't feel like you have to keep an eye on me for my sake, I want you to be happy as well." He stood up and brushed the crumbs off him once he finished his sandwich. "I'll ask you one more time, you have no regrets about leaving Kiiro behind?"

"No, I don't." Aki hoped Yuki couldn't see the lie since he didn't want to leave Yuki to get killed because he wanted to spend more time with Kiiro.

"Okay, according to the map, we should arrive at Mt. Moon and will have to travel through it to reach Cerulean City on the other side." Yuki folded up the map and they began walking. "I wonder why they call it Mt. Moon?"

"I think it has something to do with a chunk of the moon falling in that area in the ancient past." Aki replied. "How can you not know the history of Kanto?"

"Because I never thought to learn about the rest of the world."

"But they televise live Pokémon battles on TV and I doubt you don't have a TV."

Yuki put his arm around Aki's shoulder and pulled them close before he moved closer to Aki's ear. "I'm really pretending I don't know much, it's to help surprise my opponents." He moved away from Aki's ear lest a girl or group of girls saw them and yell to them to do a yaoi scene. It was clear when Aki picked up on it because his face changed from surprise to amusement.

"So when you sent out Pidgey…." He began and stopped when he saw Yuki nod.

"Yep, I planned that in advance."

"Wicked. I wish I had thought of that."

Yuki patted Aki's shoulder. "It's okay, it might look weird if we were together and acting the same way anyhow."

"Yeah, but then we could say we're brothers." They laughed at the thought until Yuki grew sober.

"We may laugh now, but we might as well keep that in mind in the event we actually do need to act as brothers." Yuki said and Aki agreed. While still a little ways off, they could see a Pokécenter next to a rocky wall and they decided to run the rest of the way to get their Pokémon healed before another trainer decided to challenge them.

"What do you say we head through Mt. Moon now?" Yuki asked as they waited for their Pokémon to be healed. "I mean it's probably bound to be dark in the cave anyway so it's not like we're going to miss any daylight."

"I suppose we could." Aki said as they received their Pokémon back. "But let's eat dinner before we do so since who knows how long it'll be before we reach the other side."

"Good idea. Why don't you go find a place we can get some food so we can conserve our supplies and I'll try to find us a map of Mt. Moon." Yuki suggested and Aki went to find food while he went looking for a map.

"He you go." A random female said as she held out a map to him at some point. "It's free of charge and don't worry, I've been through it so often that I can navigate without the map anymore."

"Well, thank you. Are you sure I don't owe you anything?" Yuki couldn't believe that he was getting what he needed for free.

"Well if you want to repay me, can you give this envelope to my parents for me?" She handed an envelope to Yuki. "Please don't open it." She then ran off while Yuki looked at the envelope looking for a name but only finding a picture of a Dewgong on the front of it. Tucking it safely away, he tried to look for the girl to memorize her features but could realize he never saw her face. With a defeat sigh, he bought a couple more items before going to join Aki and eating a light dinner as he tried to figure out who the letter was for with no luck.  
"Earth to Yuki. Hey buddy, you there?" Aki asked and tossed a French fry at him.

Yuki blinked and shook his head. "Sorry, were you saying something?"

"Yeah, I was asking if you were ready to go."

"Sorry, I got a map and a letter to deliver to someone and I've been trying to figure out who it was for."

"Couldn't you just open it?" Aki asked with a duh expression on his face as they got up to leave.

"Can't, I was told not to open it and the only thing on the outside is a drawn Dewgong." Yuki said and showed Aki the letter really quick before hiding it again.

"Wow, interesting stuff." Aki now realized why Yuki was so caught up with that letter and he was sure he would have opened it by now as well if he hadn't been told to keep it close.

Before either realized it, they stood outside of the cave mouth that would lead into Mt. Moon and they looked at each other before Aki carefully stepped into the mountain. He took a second set and the moment he was completely in the cave, he had a dozen Zubats hone in on him while Yuki waited for a second.

"Need help?" He asked as he entered the cave and shined a flashlight at the Zubats and they promptly took off.

"Yeah, thanks." Aki said as he brushed himself off and made sure he wasn't bleeding anywhere. "I only felt like I've been bitten several times."

"You probably were. Yep, I can see at least three bite marks." Yuki pointed to each one as they walked through the place. They both caught a Zubat without any problem and were surprised when they exited into a clearing that was bathed in the moonlight. "Wow, this is interesting. There's no one here" Yuki said before black shapes began to surround them.

"You had to say something didn't you?" Aki said as he stood back-to-back with Yuki and they both reached for their Pokéballs as the Pokémon came into view and since neither had seen either of them, Yuki pulled out his Pokédex. "Clefairy. Its magical and cute appeal has many admirers. It is rare and found only in certain areas." Then he pointed it to the other Pokémon. "Clefable. A timid fairy Pokémon that is rarely seen. It will run and hide the moment it senses people."

"But if that's the case, then why are they here while we're here? Shouldn't they be hiding?" Aki asked as there were more and more Clefairys and Clefables appearing.

"Let's be quiet and watch to find out." Yuki said and they went over to a less crowded area and sat down while the Pokémon began to dance around a stone that somehow risen from the ground. Yuki felt a tug on his sleeve and when he looked at Aki, he saw his friend point to the sky so he looked up to see several objects falling towards them. As they hit the ground, the trainers shielded their eyes from the rising dust and when it settled, there were several stones scattered across the ground. Some of the Clefairys went over to the stones and touched them before turning white and reappearing as Clefables.

"So that's an evolutionary stone…." Yuki gasped in amazement and he was about to walk out when a cloud covered the moon and the Pokémon seemed to break out of their spells and disappear except for a couple of Clefairys. "Fine, that works great for us." He sent out his newly acquired Zubat and had it use supersonic to confuse the Clefairys. "Aki, this is a good chance to catch them now." He tossed a Pokéball at one Clefairy and Aki did the same to the other. Due to the confusion, they caught the Pokémon.

"Great, I think Kiiro would enjoy having a Clefairy more than me. Shall we continue?" Aki said as he looked at Yuki. "What?"

"Dude, you look really pale." No sooner had Yuki said those words, Aki fell forward and Yuki caught him before lowering him gently to the ground. "It must have been those Zubats from earlier."

"Damned bats… I always knew I liked the Green Lantern better." Aki chuckled. "Guess I'll have to wait here for you to get help."

"You know, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you staged that on purpose just so you'd have to stay behind." Yuki said as he pulled out a rope. "If you want, use this escape rope and it'll get you back to at least the Pokécenter before we entered Mt. Moon."

"Well I didn't stage this that's for sure, sorry I couldn't go with you any further."

"For now that is."

"Yeah, for now anyway."

"Give my regards to Kiiro."


	4. Chapter 4

"I will. See you around." Aki took the rope and he soon disappeared while Yuki stood up and continued on his way after a moment. Other than a Zubat almost flying into him at every other step, he made it through most of the cave without much incident except to pick up four fossils not too far from the exit.

He had just stepped outside when someone grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth. While Yuki struggled, he dropped one of the Pokéballs and Squirtle came out. While the person was distracted, Yuki stomped on the person's foot before throwing his head back and smashing the person's nose and then he broke free to find a member of Team Rocket. "Now what do you people want?"

"You stole a Pokémon from one of our members and we want it back now!' The Rocket demanded. "You know the one."

"Hell no, he left Eevee to die and besides, we broke that Pokéball and she would much rather be with me anyway." Yuki said while recalling Squirtle and sending out Zubat. Normally he wouldn't target the trainers with attacks, but he had Zubat use another supersonic on the Rocket. He found the Rocket member quite amusing running around waving his arms around before cowering in fear of someone named Giovanni. Quickly recalling Zubat, he took the chance to run from Mt. Moon to Cerulean City and skidded to a halt outside the Pokécenter.

"Um Nurse Joy? Do you mind if I duck under the counter. There's a man that is chasing me." Yuki explained and Nurse Joy allowed him to do so. Just as Yuki ducked out of sight, the Rocket came in dressed in a disguise.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for someone. He happen to steal a Pokémon that belonged to me and I was wondering if he passed by here?"

Nurse Joy looked down and pretended to type something on the computer while Yuki mouthed "not true." She gave Yuki the okay sign and looked up. "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone except for a trainer that came in about three hours ago."

The Rocket growled and stormed out of the Pokécenter and Nurse Joy waited for a few minutes before letting Yuki come out.

"Thank you Nurse Joy." Yuki bowed and put his Pokémon on the counter.

"No worries, I recognized him from the wanted posters." Nurse Joy smiled and healed the Pokémon before handing them back to Yuki. "If you want to do something tonight, why don't you check out the Mystical Mermaid play that our Gym Leader and her sisters put on." She looked at the clock for a moment. "In fact, if you leave now, then you'll be able to make the next showing." She then told him the directions to get to the gym and Yuki bowed again before leaving.

Yuki found the gym easily and the first thing he saw was a large Dewgong over the entrance of the gym and his jaw dropped as he pulled out the letter and looked at the Dewgong for a moment before pocketing the letter and walking into the gym. At first he thought it was bland because of there only being a small hallway and another set of doors but when he entered the second set, he found that the gym was elaborate as possible. In the middle there was a large swimming pool with three floating platforms and as he watched, the platforms were pulled out of the pool and a coral reef with a giant clam rose up from the bottom. He went to find a seat amongst the bleachers that went all the way around the pool and seconds later, the lights dimmed except for the ones over the pool.

Misty smiled as the clam shell began opening up. She might have aged a bit since she started, but she still looked smoking hot from way back then. _This is for you Tsubasa_. She thought before the clam opened up all the way and she swam out to start the show. It never ceased to amaze her the amount of people that showed up to see the show, some people she actually knew and grew up with and though they changed it up every once in a while, the main storyline stayed pretty much the same.

Yuki could only stare at the girl in a blue bikini with flowing red hair and a green mermaid tail that covered her legs. _I wonder who she is?_ He thought just before something hit his leg. Picking up the offending object, he saw it was a flyer. "Misty Oak." He said softly and looked back at Misty. He enjoyed the story very much but Misty seemed sadden by something and it was enough that even Yuki picked up on it and was much disappointed when the show ended and people began to leave. He stayed behind until he was the last one there except for the janitor and that was when he asked if there was a way to find Misty.

The janitor turned him down and started to push Yuki towards the door until he happen to see Gary. "Professor Oak, I need to talk to you. Please, it's important!"

Gary stopped and looked at the kid. "I'll vouch for him tonight." He said with a sigh and watched as Yuki came over to him. "What's so important?"

"Do you know Misty Oak?" Yuki asked.

"I should know her, I'm her husband."

"Oh, sorry about that." Yuki blushed crimson but Gary brushed it aside. "You see, I was halfway through Mt. Moon and I was told to give a letter to someone. I haven't opened it nor does it say who it's addressed to."

"Then how do you know it's for us?"

"Truthfully, I don't. But there was a picture of a Dewgong on the outside." Yuki explained quickly before Gary could get a word in and he handed Gary the envelope.

Gary took it and read the content. He re-read it a few more times before he turned and took off for the upstairs and Yuki followed closely behind him. Bursting into the room, he found Misty wearing a pair of short shorts and a tank top that revealed her mid-drift and her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Gary? What's the big rush? And who's the kid?" She questioned before hurrying over to the wardrobe and tying a robe around herself.

"Here, read this letter." Gary said and put the letter into Misty's hands. She wasn't even halfway through when her eyes began to water and she soon stopped reading as she was crying too hard. Yuki meanwhile felt he was intruding on something very private and made to leave but Gary stopped him.

"Let me put Misty to sleep and I'll tell you what the letter said." Gary told him and had Yuki wait outside. When Misty was asleep, he took Yuki down to the kitchen and made them some hot tea. "Here, I should just let you read this and then I'll answer your questions." Gary handed Yuki the letter and Yuki read it.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_ I know I caused you much pain by acting like I was dead this entire time but I assure you that I'm alive and well. You see, Team Rocket kidnapped me in order to train me to be able to carry out the plans without any feelings what so ever. The trouble is that life in Team Rocket is a live or die job. As long as you complete your task, you lived to see another day otherwise… well I don't think I need to go into details. Let's just say that our leader's Persian isn't just for show._

_I'm sure you're wondering how I knew you were my parents. First off, there was they never changed my name so Tsubasa kind of sticks out. Second, there was the fact that dad is a world famous researcher like Grandfather is and since I was usually the one in charge of the research before missions I learned quite a bit. Third, as I was researching it would only be natural that I would question who I was and though math might not be my strong point, I could still tell how old I was based on information that I've gathered and that you two had lost a daughter that would be the same age as me. Lastly, the bright red hair, I've seen many people and not many have red hair._

_Neither you nor Dad could ever know how much I've wanted to come home and spend time with you but I would have surely died if I did and there are days where I wish I was still ignorant of my past, but there are also days where I wouldn't change anything._

_Hell, I could die just by being seen with this letter which is why it's taken me a while to write, that and trying to get my thoughts organized. Being able to have any freedom is a rare chance, another reason it took me so long._

_Since knowing I would most likely be seen and at the risk of you not believing it's me, I decided to pass it off to someone else in hopes that this message gets safely delivered. Now it's a double edged sword, if you don't get it, then I'm good as dead but if you do get it then I won't know. The last thing I have is to not try and look for me. I'm sorry I have to tell you I'm alive and then ask you to pretend I'm dead. But it's for all our safety._

_With much love to my parents,_

_Tsubasa_

Yuki was shocked in the least and he wasn't sure where to even begin to formulate a question, let alone ask them. He read it through once more but it wasn't much help. "I'm not even sure where to begin." He admitted after several minutes.

"You have to realize that for twelve years we thought she was dead." Gary said and took a sip of his tea. "Believe me, we knew it was Team Rocket that kidnapped her and we tried to find her, spent four years trying to find a lead with little success."

"But now that you know she's alive, what are you going to do?"

"Right now, I don't really know." Gary sighed heavily and looked at the ceiling. "If you like, I can show you to the guest bedroom since you shouldn't be out late at night anyway."

Yuki shook his head. "Thank you for the offer, but I must politely decline. I would rather you had your full attention on your wife for now."

"If you're sure about that. But one more question before you leave. Did you see what she looked like now?"

"I'm afraid I didn't. The shadows covered most of her and by the time I looked up, she was gone." Yuki explained as he rose to his feet. "Thank you again for your time. I hope you don't harbor ill will towards me for bringing news of your daughter."

Gary stood up and shook his head. "No, we do thank you for delivering the letter to us." He escorted Yuki to the door before locking it behind him and went to join his wife in bed.

Yuki sighed as he looked at the gym for a couple seconds longer and decided to take a walk to clear his head before he went back to the Pokécenter. As it was getting late into the night, he found that no-one on the bridge so he walked about halfway before putting his elbows on the side and leaning against them. He was too caught up in his thoughts to hear someone sneaking up from behind him.

"Does this smell like chloroform to you?" A female voice said as she put a cloth over his mouth. Yuki struggled but soon succumbed to the effect of the chloroform and fainted in her arms. "You two, come carry this kid back to base." She shouted and two more Rocket members came out of hiding and carried Yuki back to their base.

"Alright Kiiro, you seem to understand the basic of Pokémon breeding." Brock said as she did a little happy dance. "Like I said, only the basics but it's a good start."

The doors to the gym opened up and Aki walked in drinking apple juice and munching on an apple.

"Aki? Where's Yuki?" Kiiro asked after she stopped her dance.

"I got attacked by several Zubats and they drained me of my blood." Aki told them as he sat down on a boulder.

"But then why didn't Yuki come back with you?" Kiiro asked truly wondering if they could call Yuki a friend.

"He figured it out Kiiro. He realized that I didn't want to leave because of you but-"

"He also knew I would have pushed him to go on." Kiiro finished and looked down at her shoes for a moment.

Aki nodded. "We didn't plan it, but we watched some Clefairys dance and just as we were about to go on I collapsed. Then he revealed that he had bought an escape rope to give me a chance to come back here."

"And he didn't buy two?"

"The store only had one left according to him and it would have taken too long to move by foot."

"He reminds me of so much like Ash when I traveled with him." Brock spoke and making the other two jump because they had forgotten about him. "Seriously, Ash would have done the exact same thing if one of us were injured in anyway."

"So then I guess we can still call Yuki a friend?" Kiiro asked and Brock nodded.

"Yep. Yuki is still a friend of yours, even if he does things like that. He's just watching out for you two." He glanced at his watch. "If you want, feel free to make yourselves comfortable since I have to take a phone call."

He made sure that he was alone and that no one could hear him before he dialed a number but only got the voicemail. "Hey Ash. Hope everything is going good for you. I just wanted to call you and let you know we have another trainer that seems like you. By that I mean he's willing to risk his life alone for the safety of his friends. You better watch out buddy, he might be able to beat you one day." Brock chuckled before saying bye and ended the call. Instead of putting the receiver back, he stared at it with a frown. That made it the fifth time he tried calling Ash only to have it go straight to voicemail. Thinking about calling Misty to see if she heard anything from him, he was about to dial the number when he saw the time. _Most likely she's performing the show right. That or sleeping._ He thought and figured he would call her in the morning. With that, he walked back to where Aki and Kiiro were fast asleep on separate couches so he got a couple of blankets and covered them up before closing up the gym.

Yuki woke up in a strange room. Everything was white, from the bed sheets to the wall, just white. There was a single light that hung from the ceiling and because of the white walls, the light simply reflected off the surfaces making it appear brighter. There was a small table and a sink with a bathroom connected to it but no windows. Yuki's head hurt and his mouth felt dry and he desperately wanted a drink of water. Carefully getting off the bed, he made his way into the bathroom and turned on the cold water before cupping his hands and drinking greedily from the faucet over the sink. It was when he had his fill that he walked back out to the room and he knew how he was going to escape, but breaking out. _Now I just need a defect in the wall to exploit_. Yuki thought as he checked every wall and the floor for a possible defect he could use. Upon not finding any, he sat down and his arm slid to his side and it was then that he realized he had no Pokémon on him. _Crap! Crap! Crap!_ He frantically doubled check and indeed, his Pokémon had been taken away as well as his phone and Pokédex so with nothing to do, he waited.

Sometime later, a small flap was pushed open and a plate with some bread and beef was pushed in and he ate at it hungrily. Without warning, the light shut itself off and since there was nothing to do, he opted to lie down on the bed and try to sleep.

Aki sighed. "It's no good; I can't reach Yuki at all." He said as he tossed his phone onto the bed where it bounced a couple of times before settling down.

"Do you think he's alright?" Kiiro asked as she looked out the window as if Yuki would show up walking down the street without much of a care.

"Yeah, he could be in Mt. Moon or another cave. If that's the case then he'll never be able to answer until he gets out."

"I'm going to go tell Brock anyway." Kiiro turned and left the room before walking around to find Brock. She found him on the telephone and so she opted to wait.

"…Yes, that's great to hear… No, I understand that it's probably not the best news but it should count for something." Brock spoke into the receiver and was silent for a few minutes. "…Who did you say delivered the message?... You're kidding me?!" He looked at Kiiro and mouthed for her to go get Aki. Once she was gone, Brock turned his attention to the phone again. "Gary, I happen to have two of Yuki's friends staying with me right now." He heard Gary curse over the phone. "I'm going to tell them the truth." They said their good-byes and hung up just as Aki and Kiiro came back downstairs.

"So what's up Brock?"

Brock sighed as he turned to face them. "Well, good news is that Yuki made it to Cerulean City without any problem. The bad news is, no one can find him at the moment." Brock told them honestly.  
"Maybe he just went for a walk or is training on the outskirts of the city?" Kiiro suggested but Brock shook his head.

"No, Gary said that Nurse Joy told him that Yuki never came back that night."

"Geez, that fool can't even go one day without something happening to him. I swear, we're going have to put a GPS locator chip in him." Aki said as he face palmed himself. "Guess I'll go and look for him tomorrow. I knew I should have stayed with him."

Brock put a hand onto Aki's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up too much about it; you wouldn't have been able to do any good in your condition anyway."

"No, but I would have been closer." He said with a bitter voice before recalling what Yuki had told him. "Actually, I'm curious as to how he's going to get out of this mess." Both Kiiro and Brock were surprised at the sudden change of attitude but Aki wouldn't reveal why.

Kiiro sighed. "If you believe in that knucklehead, then I'm going to as well."


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, back in the white room, Yuki sneezed. "I swear someone is talking about me." He said and rubbed his nose. When he finished, he noticed that the walls were changing to a shagedelic set of colors before he heard a voice inside his head. _"Human… follow my voice… Do not be alarmed, you will not be seen."_ Yuki tried to move, but found his body felt heavier until with all his strength, he stood up and felt lighter than a feather. A glance down at his hands explained why, he had separated himself from his body. _"Hurry, I do not have much time."_ Yuki then began to follow the voice up and down stairs, round countless corners until he came to a room completely pitch black except for a blue-ish glow surrounding something that had countless hoses sticking out from it.

"_I do not sense and evil intent from you. Yes, I am the one that is speaking and has guided you here."_ The thing said. _"I can see you in my mind's eye but I cannot move."_

Yuki walked towards the thing. "Do you happen to have a name?"

"_I do not. But I have been called Mewtwo."_ Mewtwo said as if saying its "name" was foreign to him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mewtwo, but what happened to you?" Yuki asked, now feeling bolder that he wasn't going to get harmed; he moved closer to the Pokémon and made a mental note to check his Pokédex when he could.

"_I do not know. I have no access to my memories prior to yesterday."_ Mewtwo responded. _"Remove the helmet, I can sense that it's interfering with my abilities. But be prepared, some of my abilities may transfer to you when you do so."_ Now Yuki was nervous as to what could happen but he was really curious to see what Mewtwo looked like under that armor so he reached up and touched the helmet, being surprised when he found he could actually touch physical objects despite not having a body. From the contact, he felt a tingling sensation in his arms and it only increased the further he lifted the helmet. He nearly had it off when two things happened at the same time, the first was a blast of energy strong enough that it blasted him onto the floor after skidding a few feet and the alarm ringing shrilly.

"Mewtwo, what happened?" Yuki asked as he got up from the floor and brushed himself off.

"_They seem to have wired an alarm system into the helmet incase I did managed to get it off."_

"What about that energy blast?"

"_You now have some of my ability. Remember, I am a physic type Pokémon."_

Yuki was a bit confused as to what he met, but he found himself being teleported back to his own body. _"I'm sorry I couldn't help you this time Mewtwo, but I will come back to find you. I promise."_ He said in his mind since he figured it would be the only way he could say anything to Mewtwo.

"_Thank you for your concern Yuki. I look forward to the day we meet again."_ Mewtwo's voice came back to him and Yuki almost fell off the bed since he didn't expect to have Mewtwo respond to him. Yuki tried to communicate with Mewtwo more, but he felt the connection get cut off and for the first time, he felt truly alone.

Despite the loud sounds of the alarm, Yuki heard someone tapping at the door. First a "S". Followed by a "T", then "A"... "N"... and "D". A small pause before Yuki realized it meant "stand." Then came a "B," then "A"... "C" and finally "K". A second later he realized it was the word "back" "Stand back?" His eyes widen and he dashed over behind the table before turning it onto its side and covering behind it as the door exploded.  
"Come with me." Tsubasa said though she wore a cloak that covered her and a mask to hide her face. "What are you standing around for? Do you not know a jailbreak when you see one?" That got Yuki's attention and he followed Tsubasa out of the holding cell.

"You're Tsubasa aren't you?" Yuki asked. "Why are you helping me now?"

"Because you helped me by getting the letter to my parents." She slowed down only long enough to give Yuki his Pokéballs and Pokédex back before she sped up again. "Rest assure, all your Pokémon are there."

"Thanks Tsubasa." Yuki said as he slung the belt around and pocketed the Pokédex. Since most of the Rockets had either hid or had already went passed them, Tsubasa and Yuki didn't meet and resistance along the way and they made it out soon afterwards.

"Here is where I leave you. Head that way and you'll arrive at Cerulean City. But you must be fast since the security will double soon." Tsubasa explained as she pointed in a direction.

"Why don't you come with me now? You didn't see your parents' reaction when I showed them the letter." Yuki offered but Tsubasa shook her head.

"I can't. Team Rocket would hunt me down until I was dead. Either that or they would go after my parents." Tsubasa was glad she had the mask on so her face didn't betray just how much she wanted to see her parents. "I have to go now before I'm missed." She started to head back towards the hideout.

"Wait Tsubasa, can I tell anything to them?" Yuki asked but he could only watch as Tsubasa ran into the hideout without another word. He was going to start back but a group of Rockets saw him and they began chasing Yuki. _Crap, why did they have to find me so soon?_ He thought as he ran fast as he could but the Rockets were catching up. _If only I could get to the gym._ Without warning, he suddenly disappeared from the Rocket's sight and when he reappeared, he found himself sitting on the middle of a flat platform. Coming towards him from one side was a flamethrower due to an Arcanine and coming from his other side was a thunderbolt from a Raichu. With a startled yell, he scrambled to his feet and ran across the ground and dived into the water just in time to avoid the flames and electricity although he wasn't completely safe being in the water so he swan to the other side of the arena and crawled out while gasping for breath. _Did I just teleport?_ He asked himself before feeling Gary's hand on his shoulder.

"What the hell happened?" Gary demanded, though not in an accusatory way.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Yuki gasped for breath. "I'll tell you later okay? Don't stop the battle just because of me dropping in." There was little surprised that Gary won, though he did offer the challenger a chance to a rematch since their battle had been interrupted and promised the next time it wouldn't be interrupted. However, Gary had more battles to fight that day so he sent Yuki into Misty's care and he received a hot meal and a bath. Misty even telling him that he wasn't allowed to come out until he was so clean that even if a Machamp dumped a massive amount of dirt on him he would still be clean.

Later, Yuki, Gary, and Misty sat around the kitchen table until Gary broke the silence. "Alright, so what happened to you?"

"Well, I decided to walk around the city before returning to the Pokécenter when I was drugged from behind." He then went into detail about his captured and explained how Mewtwo helped him to escape but he left out about the transfer of powers.

"Wait? You met Mewtwo?" Misty asked as she looked startled.

"Wait, don't tell me it's who I think it is." Gary said as he recalled the humiliation he felt when his Pokémon had been picked up and tossed aside like rag dolls.

"I thought we managed to set him free?" Misty questioned as she recalled Team Rocket getting their memories wiped.

"If that's the case, then Giovanni must have found a way to capture him again." Yuki shrugged as they fell silent. "I did find Tsubasa though. She helped me to escape since I was able to give you her letter."

Misty gasped slightly and covered her mouth. "Are you serious?"

Yuki nodded. "Yeah, but she wore a mask and a cloak to hide her so I still don't have any idea what she looks like."

Gary rubbed his temples with his hands. "But at least we know for sure that Tsubasa is able to take care of herself."

"But why doesn't she visit us?" Misty asked softly.

"Because she doesn't want to put you two in danger." Yuki replied and looked at the clock. Gary saw this and put a hand onto Yuki's shoulder.

"This time you're spending the night here." He said with a firm tone that just wasn't going to take no for an answer while Yuki smiled sheepishly.

"Alright, but this time I think I would be better off." Yuki said as his phone started ringing. "Sorry, but I probably should take this." He said once he saw the caller idea and quickly went into the hallway. "Mochi Mochi." Yuki said happily but then had to hold the phone away from his ear to make sure he didn't go deaf from Kiiro's squeal of joy.

While Yuki was outside the kitchen, Gary held Misty. "We know she's safe."

"I know, but you haven't dealt with Team Rocket like I have." Misty replied softly. "But now that I know, I think I'm going to battle again as I'm the official Gym Leader." She smiled and kissed Gary. "I mean you've been doing a great job of it but I'm starting to miss it. Plus thinking of strategies is probably just what I need rather than moping about the entire time."

"If you're sure you can handle the strain of being a Gym Leader again." Gary teased her and he kissed her hair, which earned him a light punch on the arm.

"I can still kick your butt any day Professor." Misty laughed while Gary pretended to be hurt. Misty promised to let Yuki be the first one she would battle in a week.

The news that Misty would be returning as the Gym Leader filled many with excitement and on the day of the match, people were so crowded that even the standing room only was completely filled. Of course, Aki and Kiiro were in the front having arrived only a day after Yuki's escape from Team Rocket while Gary would be refereeing the match.

"Misty, I feel honored that I'm battling you, but don't think I'm going to hold myself back." Yuki said from his side of the arena.

"The same for you Yuki." Misty returned. "Just because I haven't battled in a while doesn't mean I've forgotten how to." She smiled at him while Yuki smiled as well for a second then turned his face serious.

Gary cleared his throat. "As a long time standing rule, each trainer will be permitted only the use of two Pokémon each. The challenger, Yuki will battle the Gym Leader, Misty for the Cascade Badge." He was cut off by a loud cheer from the crowd and it took a couple minutes for them to settle down. "Challenger Yuki, are you ready?" Yuki nodded and grinned as he got ready to release his first Pokémon. "My beloved wife and Gym Leader of Cerulean City, after your long vacation, are you ready?" If looks could kill, Gary would have been at the bottom of the pool but Misty smiled before nodding. "Alright, let the battle begin NOW!"

Misty sent out Staryu while Yuki sent out Pikachu. _Crap, that means I can't have Staryu go into the water but he has the advantage on land_. Misty thought to herself and was a bit disappointed that she was going to lose so quickly.

"Pikachu, use quick attack on Staryu." Yuki called out. He knew he had Misty trapped and that he had the advantage, but he didn't plan on using it. The only thing he had to worry about was Pikachu falling into the water so he had purposely trained Pikachu to be able to attack and change direction in a split second.

"Staryu, dodge and counter with water gun." Misty called out and Staryu dodged to the side before blasting Pikachu with the water gun fully intent on pushing the electric mouse into the pool but at the last second, Pikachu changed direction and ran around the outer ring of the ground area.

"Now Pikachu, thunder wave." Yuki called out but Pikachu didn't use the electric attack and it was a good thing to because of the water dripping off Pikachu's body. "Use the air to dry yourself and then use the same attack." Pikachu gave him a thumbs up and began to use another quick attack except to dry his fur off.

_Sneaking little brat._ Misty thought. "Staryu, don't let Pikachu get completely dry, aim water gun and use it when you have a clear shot." She commanded but Pikachu made too many random movements and Staryu tried to follow Pikachu but just couldn't get a clear shot. Seconds later, Staryu was hit from behind and then zapped by thunder wave.

"Pikachu, charge up some electricity and use tackle." Yuki knew there was a risk that Pikachu could end up electrocuting himself but he also knew he had to have full faith in his Pokémon.

Misty knew what she was about to do would be risky but she had to try it. "Staryu, blast Pikachu with water gun in short bursts." Staryu blasted water out and some came into contact with Pikachu while others missed but it was to make sure Pikachu didn't have a direct line to Staryu. Pikachu winced a little every time the water came into contact with his skin which caused the electricity to tingle across his body. As he got close however, Staryu let out a water gun attack suddenly and this time Pikachu couldn't avoid it and was sent backwards close to the edge of the pool. "Now, use tackle!" Staryu rushed in spinning like helicopter blades while Pikachu stood up.

"Watch out Pikachu." Yuki called out but Pikachu was hit and this time sent into the pool while Staryu continued the attack even in the pool. Now Yuki was worried, he couldn't speak to Pikachu and knew he wouldn't be able to hold his breath under water for long. _"Pikachu, do the best you can."_ He thought

"Call off your attack, Pikachu can't stay under for much longer. I concede this round."

Misty was surprised when he heard Yuki conceding but nodded. "Staryu, stop." Having spent so long with Staryu above and underwater, she knew her Pokémon heard her as Staryu and Pikachu came out of the water and onto the ground where Pikachu collapsed.

Gary raised the flag for Yuki. "Pikachu is unable to battle, Staryu wins this round." He announced while Yuki recalled Pikachu.

"You did well buddy." Yuki put his forehead to the Pokéball before putting that one on his belt and sending out Squirtle. Misty knew Staryu was exhausted so she recalled him and sent out Starmie. "I see we're going to start fresh all over again."

Misty nodded. "Gary, I recalled Staryu on the pretense of not letting it battle anymore."

Gary shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough, both trainers now only have one Pokémon remaining. The battle may begin when both are ready."

"Squirtle, we're going to fight in the water. Learn Starmie's attack pattern before rushing in." Yuki said while he watched Misty. "And Squirtle, do the best you can, that's all I can ask of you."

"What's the matter Yuki? You seem quite quiet over there." Misty said softly, wondering what was up by having the two Pokémon under the water. Then it hit her. _He's using the platform in the middle so we can't see what's going on underwater._ A look at Gary confirmed her suspicion.

Without warning, Starmie spun out of the water and passed so close to Yuki's face that he felt the air moving around Starmie and a second later, Squirtle popped up onto the platform. "Bubblebeam Squirtle." Yuki sold him and watched as a stream of bubbles came from Squirtle's mouth but Starmie cut through them effortlessly. "Now catch Starmie and use bite." Squirtle waited for the right moment and managed to catch Starmie's spin and bit down on it for a few seconds before tossing it to the side. A small nick appeared in the gem in the center of Starmie's body and as the battle progressed, Starmie began to slow down while Squirtle was still going strong. With one final tackle, Starmie flew through the air and landed besides Misty and Gary raised the flag for Misty's side.

"Misty is out of usable Pokémon, the challenger Yuki is the winner." He announced while Yuki walked over to Misty's side and shook her hand.

"That was a great battle Misty."

"Thanks Yuki, here's the Cascade Badge like you were promised." Misty handed Yuki the second badge. "But let me warn you buster, if I had been at the top of my game, you wouldn't have won." She smiled to let him know she was teasing him.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I would love to battle you once you're at the top of your game again."

"Then that's a promise." They shook hands to seal the deal while Aki and Kiiro came up to congratulate Yuki as well.

"I think there's going have to be a large celebration." Gary said and Misty wondered why. "To celebrate your return as the Gym Leader." He turned in time to see Aki and Kiiro shove Yuki into the pool and he couldn't help but to laugh.

"Yeah, no doubt about that and I was right Gary. I needed to get back into this because it reminded me about everything I've used to enjoy." She then let out a shriek and tried to stop the water coming her way as Yuki shook his body like a Growlithe.

That evening, they had a lovely meal with each of them pitching in to make it possible. Gary and Kiiro did the cooking, Yuki got a camp fire going, and Misty carried the various dishes along with Aki's help. They celebrated Misty's return and the epic first battle she gave Yuki and the party lasted well into the night. First to fall asleep was Kiiro, then Gary, and followed by Aki, leaving Misty and Yuki awake.

"That really was some suburb battling out there." Misty said softly as she looked into the fire. "But why didn't you use more electric attacks with Pikachu?"

"Simple, with this being your first battle in a while, I wanted it to be memorable, not a two-up, two-down type battle." Yuki replied honestly. "Normally I would rather have the type advantage, but this time I only used Pikachu to make sure the battle stayed on the center platform."

"I thought that's what you were planning." Misty said as he confirmed her thoughts. "And thanks for not defeating me so easily. I know plenty of trainers that would have taken that advantage; in fact one of them is right over there." She pointed to Gary. "Of course, that was when he was younger." Yuki's jaw nearly dropped when he heard about that.

"I wouldn't have a clue that he could be like that."

"I'm sure if he wanted to he could be, but he knows that I would beat him for that."

"Say Misty, this is a different topic but what do you remember about Mewtwo?" Yuki asked.

Misty described her encounter with Mewtwo back when she was travelling with Ash and Brock. "It took Ash to turn to stone before the cloned Pokémon and ours stopped fighting. It was probably the second worst part of my life. Ash's Pikachu tried so many times to revive him with no luck."

"But then how did he get free?"

"All the Pokémon cried and their tears revived him."

Yuki thought that was the most stupid thing he heard but then he remembered that a lot of stuff that seemed crazy so Pokémon crying and bring back a person back to life didn't seem that far on the crazy scale. "Wow. Then what happened?"

"Mewtwo stopped the fighting and then he took the cloned Pokémon away with him." Misty finished. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, other than he helped me get free from Team Rocket, I wanted to try and save him again if I can."

"The only thing I have to say is to be careful. If Team Rocket has managed to capture Mewtwo, I have no doubt they would force him to fight."

"I promise that I will." Yuki stood up. "I'm going to walk around the Gym for a few minutes, then I'll probably turn in for the night." He big Misty good night before he walked away and entered the Gym arena. _Mewtwo. Where are you?"_ He thought as hard as possible but only received silence. With a sigh, he pulled out his Pokédex and activated it. "Pokédex, what information can you give me on the Pokémon named Mewtwo?"

"Mewtwo. It was created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments." Yuki had hoped the Pokédex would give him for than that really brief description but he took what he got. "Now I just have to find a way to save Mewtwo." He looked at the nugget bridge and walked to the beginning of it. "Pokédex, give me a rundown of all the moves Mewtwo can learn." He was curious if the Pokédex could do that and he was amazed that the Pokédex actually did that.

"Moves learned by leveling up: Confusion, Disable, Psychic, Swift, Barrier, Recover, Mist, and Amnesia." There was a small ding as the picture of Mewtwo switched over to show only "TM" "Moves learned by Technical Machine: Mega Punch, Mega Kick, Toxic, Body Slam, Take Down, Double-Edge, Bubblebeam, Water Gun, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Hyper Beam, Submission, Counter, Seismic Toss, Rage, Solarbeam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Psychic, Teleport, Mimic, Double Team, Reflect, Bide, Metronome, Selfdestruct, Fire Blast, Skull Bash, Rest, Thunder Wave, Psywave, Tri Attack, and Substitute."

"Thanks Pokédex, that helped quite a bit." Yuki said as he closed the Pokédex and pocketed it. _I wonder which abilities Mewtwo transferred to me? I'm guessing teleport since that's how I got away from the Rockets chasing me. But what else?_ "Guess I'll learn as I go along." He looked along the bridge and concentrated on reaching the other end. After several minutes, he took one step towards the bridge and felt a curious, but welcomed, tingling sensation and soon found himself on the other side of the bridge. "Alright, teleport is a move." He reflected on what he felt when he teleported and thought about how the room he was staying in looked. This time the effect was almost instant as he found himself back in his borrowed room. However, he felt drained of all his energy and he fell asleep before his head even hit the pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

Giovanni growled and slammed his fist down on the desk. Standing up dramatically, he walked out of his office and down to the lowest part of their newest hideout. He put his hand onto a scanner and a second later, the door opened so he stepped in before it closed behind him. His prized possession stood there and only with the bare minimalistic of light illuminated it. "What happened that set the alarms off?" He growled and got no reply. Pushing a button hidden besides him and Mewtwo groaned in pain and a few seconds later he stopped it. "I checked the cameras and there was nothing out of the ordinary. So tell ME WHAT HAPPENED!" He shouted and only received silence once more. He increased the pain and held it on for a longer amount of time before he stomped out from the room.

Yuki was the last to wake up and when he did, it was only getting late in the afternoon. "Morning everyone." He yawned as he came downstairs.

"Morning? You mean evening." Aki said and pointed to the clock. "Maybe you're not cut out to be a trainer if a Gym battle makes you this tired."

"Shut it Aki." Yuki said as he got a glass of water and downed it before getting a second glass.

"I wanted to wake you up, but you were dead to the world. I don't think even an Electrode using self-destruct could wake you up." Kiiro said.

"Yeah, probably not, seeing that if I was caught in the explosion I'd probably die." Yuki chuckled and patted Kiiro's head. "But thanks for the thought."

"So then I guess we'll leave early tomorrow?" Aki asked.

"Sure, but why don't we wait until after your Gym battle?" Yuki suggested.

"Alright won it." The moment the words left Aki's mouth, he regretted saying them. "Sorry, but we really did try to wake you up."

"Tell you what." Gary interrupted. "How about a rematch between Misty and Aki? Since Aki already won the Cascade Badge, this can just be for fun. I know it won't be the exact same, but it would at least give you an idea of what you missed."

Yuki smiled. "Sure, I think I can settle for that." As a group, they went down to the stadium and Aki and Misty battled once again with Misty winning this round. After having a lovely dinner, they pretty much turned in for the night.

Bright and early next morning, the trio waved good-bye to Gary and Misty as they travelled onto route nine. What made this route interesting were a couple of youngsters talking about how all the girls they knew were simply weak and that Pokémon battles should only be left to the boys. Aki held Kiiro back until the youngsters turned their voices onto Kiiro. "Aki, if you want to live, release. Me. Right. Now." She said and Aki released her. "Alright you brats, you're going down. Ivysaur, come on out." She released Bulbasaur while the two youngsters sent out a Rattata and a Spearow.

"Hey, two-on-one is against the rules." Yuki called but was stopped by Aki.

"Trust me and have some faith in her." He winked at Yuki and they watched the battle unfold.

"Ivysaur, use Razor Leaf." Kiiro commanded as Ivysaur sent out several leaves from the flower on its back before they homed in on the opponent Pokémon.

"Both of you; dodge. Rattata, quick attack. Spearow, use peck." The two youngsters said as their Pokémon moved out of the way and they too had to jump clear of the leaves.

"Ivysaur, Vine Whip." Kiiro said in an almost bored sort of tone. One vine wrapped around Spearow and slammed it into the ground while the other vine wrapped around Rattata and slammed it against a wall. "Leech Seed, now." Ivysaur grunted and shot a few seeds at each of the Pokémon where they sprouted and after a moment, they seemed to have their energy drain through the vines. "Well you brats, did you learn your lesson?" She asked them but they wouldn't yield. "Ivysaur, release them and return." Ivysaur let Sparrow get up and Rattata slid down the wall while Ivysaur walked back over to Kiiro's side. "Well?"

"We're sorry… we were wrong to say those things." They apologized.

"Good, remember that there are people who will be stronger than you and they might not be nice as I was." Kiiro finished and the trio started walking away but a few steps later and they heard two Pokémon cry out as they were upper-cut by Ivysaur's vines.

"What happened?" Aki asked as he looked behind him in time to see the Pokémon hit their trainers on the head.

"They thought they would sneak an attack in while our back was turned." Yuki replied as he concentrated on the road ahead of them. "Right Ivysaur?" Ivysaur agreed and nuzzled Kiiro's hand. As they walked on, the two trainers decided to get some practice in. While Aki used his Charmeleon, Yuki carried Eevee in his arms. Without warning, an Ekans cried out and lunged for Eevee despite the trainer but Charmeleon intercepted the attack before setting it on fire while a trainer stepped out and caught the Ekans right in front of them.

"Dude, what the hell?" Aki asked.

"Thanks for the Ekans, I've been wanting to catch one." He said with a prideful smile on his face.

"Um, that's cheating." Aki growled. "Charmeleon, get him."

"Not so fast. I send out my Pinsir." Trainer said. "Tell you what? If you win, I'll give you the Ekans but if I win, then I get to keep it."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. If anything, I should be challenging you to reclaim Ekans since you already have it. Charmeleon, make Pinsir burn for that." Charmeleon fought Pinsir easily and it quickly fainted. Then the trainer summoned Scyther but it was too quick for Charmeleon to keep up. That was until Charmeleon evolved into Charizard. Since Charizard now had wings, it flew after Scyther before performing a Seismic Toss on the bug type Pokémon and with it dazed on the ground, Charizard sent a stream of fire and burned Scyther before making it faint. However, once Scyther was recalled, the trainer disappeared before they could stop him.

With a sigh, they visited the Pokécenter just outside the Rock Tunnel where they found a poster for a virtual reality battle that was to take place at the power plant. "Shall we check it out?" Aki asked.

"Oh, I see you found that poster." Nurse Joy said as she returned their fully healed Pokémon to them. "If you would like, just continue along the path through the trees and you'll have no trouble finding the power plant."

The trio thanked Nurse Joy and did as they were told and there was very little wonder how they could miss a building since it was right by the water edge and it was the only building they had seen.

"Welcome, welcome to the power plant. I'm the chief here, name is Sparky." Sparky shook their hands and gave Kiiro a hug. "I'm sure you're here for the virtual reality game?"

"We were curious as to how it works, to say the least." Yuki said as they walked into a sort of lounge area.

"You see, one of you will go into that machine over there with three Pokémon, from there, that person will appear on this screen which has been linked to various worlds." Sparky explained.

"But why only three Pokémon?" Kiiro asked.

"Because it takes a tremendous amount of power to activate this machine and if there are any more than three, it'll overload." Sparky said talking from experience.

"I'll give it a try." Aki said as he put five of the Pokéballs into Yuki's lap. "I know one for sure, but what about the other two?" He was about to eenie-meeiny-miney-moe his selection but Yuki and Kiiro both held out one Pokéball to him. "Thanks guys, but which ones did you give me?"

"You'll see Aki, just go in there and do your best." Yuki said and watched as Aki went with Sparky before he released Eevee from the Pokéball, finding her presence comforting. "I want to ask which Pokémon you gave to Aki, but I think you'll say the same thing as me right?" He asked Kiiro and he got a nod for an answer. "Thought so." They got up and followed after Sparky and Aki. Aki was told to enlarge the Pokéballs and place them in the three slots in any order that he chose to. Once the tray slid in, he was instructed to lie on the bed and to make sure he didn't have a hand sticking out because a glass shield came down.

"Don't worry, Aki will be fine. I would explain the next part but it can be a bit technical and dry." Sparky told them honestly so he just showed them what he would do to activate the virtual reality system. Seconds later, a trainer appeared on the map in the background with Charizard appearing on the stage and a small Pokéball emblem appeared in the lower left corner. It didn't take long for Link in his Hyrule green tunic (represented by a small Triforce next to the Pokéball), a Fox named Fox, and finally, a person in armor named Samus. Each had five lives and there was a small countdown before the battle began. Whenever Charizard was knocked off screen, Aki rotated the Pokémon out and the second one was Ivysaur and when Ivysaur was defeated, Squirtle came out and the cycle repeated occasionally

Yuki stroked Eevee's fur while he watched the virtual battle with Kiiro at his side. At a random point in the battle, a floating sphere alternating rainbow colors floated around.

"Aki, listen, if you can have your Pokémon break that orb, then you'll be able to get what we call a grand finale." Sparky explained as they watched as all four characters attempted to shatter the rainbow color orb and at the last second, Aki's Pokémon was able to shatter it and all three appeared on the field. Charizard used Fire blast, Ivysaur used Solarbeam and Squirtle used Hydro Pump which blew two characters off that stage but Link had managed to get on the other side of the final smash so he avoided the attack. As such, Charizard tried to turn in time but was met with a slash from Link's sword and was sent flying.

"No, Aki couldn't have lost." Kiiro said as she looked at the ranking. Link was first, Aki was second, Samus was third and Fox came in fourth. "I just can't believe it to be true."

"It's okay Kiiro, that was fun to do though." Aki said as he came out of the machine. "Sparky, when can I go again?"

"I'm afraid not for another year." Sparky said regrettably. "You see, if we attempt this again, then we risk the town people losing their power. So the earliest would be next year."

Aki slumped at the news but quickly brushed it off. "Thanks for the Pokémon guys." He said as they all got their Pokémon back. "I should have known it would have been those two."

"Hey, what can we say? We started this journey together, so I guess it only made sense that we did the virtual reality battle together." Yuki said and Kiiro agreed.

"Though you didn't take first, why don't I treat the three of you to dinner tonight on me?" Sparky asked before they were taken to a dining hall under the power plant where they were served a full meal fit for a King. It was with much regret that they had to leave but they felt it would best to be on their way before it got too dark before they could enter the Rock Tunnel.

Along the entire trip back to the Pokécenter, Aki replayed the entire battle for his two companions but he provided them a chance to understand what it had been like for him watching the characters flying around and the effects he felt from some of the items that had appeared on the battlefield.

As they walked through the Rock Tunnel, Aki using Charizard's tail as a lantern, they each caught an Onix and a Geodude. Even Kiiro battled a few times with her Pokémon but other than that, not much excitement happened. And they soon walked into Lavender Town.

"Wow, it seems awfully quiet around here." Yuki commented as they looked around for anyone to be out but still not seeing anyone."I wonder where everyone is?" Kiiro asked just before a bell chimed making all three jump. Soon afterwards people began to come outside and Yuki walked up to a woman.

"Excuse me, wh- huh?" He asked as the woman walked right passed him. He ran ahead of the woman and tried to get her attention with very little success.

"Excuse me sir." Aki said and waved his hand in front of a gentleman but go the same response as Yuki did.

"What's going on here?" Kiiro asked, getting worried if they could be affected as well.

"We might know if we follow." Aki said and Yuki nodded in agreement so the trio followed the townspeople to a tower and stood in the back. On the other side of the room, there was a stage where a small child dressed as a Cubone sat and playing with some toys. A few minutes later, two people dressed in Team Rocket uniforms tried to kidnap Cubone but they didn't count on a Marowak leaping between her child and the Rockets. Marowak fought valiantly and managed to fight Team Rocket off but she was ultimately struck down. The Cubone cried for its mother and took her skull before putting it on his head and picked up the bone that its mother carried before the curtains closed. The trio was going to clap at the wonderful performance, but due to the deathly silence around them they didn't. One by one the townspeople got up and filed out of the tower, an old couple beckoning for the trio to follow them.

They soon reached the old couple's house where they were served breakfast and drink. "It's good that you came today." The old man said as breakfast drew to a close.

"That was a really sad story." Kiiro said as she wiped the tear streaks from her cheeks.

"It really is, but it's a true story. We do this every year in honor of the Marowak that died at the hands of Team Rocket, to honor her sacrifice." The old lady said as she came back and sat down in her chair.

"But why would Team Rocket be after a Cubone?" Aki asked after a second as he couldn't figure out what was so special about a Cubone.

"Because their skulls can fetch a lot of money." The old man said angrily. "Outside of fossils, there aren't many skulls that one can find lying around on the side of the road so they go after the only Pokémon that has a skull out in the open." Within the hour, the trio had gotten all the information they could get from the old couple so they thanked them and walked out before standing in the middle of the town.

"Which way should we go now?" Aki asked and Yuki pulled out the map.

"Well, there's no point going back the way we came so that leaves us with two options. We can take route eight to reach Saffron City or we can go down route twelve. From there we can either take route eleven to Vermilion City or continue down to route thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen and reach Fuchsia City." He said and showed the other two the map, tracing the routes he was talking about.

"Man, I'm tired of all this walking." Kiiro said as she leaned against a building before she suddenly picked up. "Let me see the map." She said and all but ripped it from Yuki's hands. She nodded a couple of times. "We're going to route eight. Celadon City is on the other side of Saffron. Not only do they have the largest department store there, but they also have a game corner. I mean Aki got to have his fun, so why don't we take a break and have our fun?" She asked brightly.

"Sure, but while we're here, I wouldn't mind looking around inside the tower you're leaning against." Yuki said as he folded the map up and pocketed it while Kiiro shrieked and jumped away from the building.

"No! I don't want to go in there, that place gave me the creeps just by going into the front door. I dun wanna! I dun wanna!" Kiiro said.

"Okay, that's fine. I'm not going to force you to come in." Yuki said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You can either wait here or stay with the old couple."

Kiiro shivered. "They're more creepy then the tower." She then snapped her fingers. "I got it; I'll go and meet you at the game center in Celadon does that sound fair?"

"Sure, but I'm with Yuki on this one." Aki voiced his opinion. "I want to see this tower in the daylight myself.

"Oh, I'm waiting for night before going in." Yuki said which surprised both the other two.

"Why at night?" Aki asked as he grabbed Yuki's shoulders.

"Because I want to." Yuki replied and removed Aki's hands from his shoulders. "It just doesn't look like much during the daytime."

"Alright man, then I'm going to go now, then I'm going to head after Kiiro." Aki decided.

"Sure, I'll just be down on route twelve and do a little fishing maybe or something while I wait." Yuki said and the three went their separate ways. Yuki battled a fisherman and after the battle, the fisherman gave him a good rod and they fished together for some time. Kiiro walked through the night in order to reach her destination and made it to the Celadon Pokécenter before falling asleep. Aki looked around the tower and was creep out by the Channelers so he didn't stay for too long but only made it to Saffron City before it was too late to continue on.

Yuki exhaled a breath and reached up to scratch Eevee's head. "Are you ready for this girl?" He asked while trying to keep his voice calm, wondering if this was a good idea after all. Eevee nuzzled his head as if to give encouragement and so Yuki entered the tower. He was fine until he got to the second floor when he encountered a Gastly and he pulled out his Pokédex, having never seen a Gastly before. "Gastly. Almost invisible, this gaseous Pokémon cloaks the target and puts it to sleep without notice." Yuki pocketed the Pokédex and then he made a mistake. He sent out Eevee and tried to use normal based attacks but could only watch as Eevee dashed right through the ghost Pokémon. "Eevee, return. Pidgeotto, go!" he sent out Pidgeotto and had her use Gust. It seemed to work so he continued to use that to weaken Gastly down to the point where he caught the ghost Pokémon and was going to recall Pidgeotto but it evolved into a Pidgeot. After recalling her, he explored the remaining floors and battled the Channelers and learned of Haunter, the next stage in Gastly's evolution.

He thought he was at the top but there was a hidden staircase led him up to one more floor where he saw a Pokémon walking around by itself. He took a step forward and sudden there was a spirit between him and the Pokémon until it became visible enough to be seen as Marowak. "Wait, please, I'm not here to hurt either of you." He said but the Marowak got ready to throw the bone until Eevee jumped down from his arms and translated Yuki's words and it seemed to work since Marowak lowered the bone. He allowed Eevee to play with Cubone for a while he went over a list of the Pokémon he caught so far and found he was doing pretty well but as time passed, he felt bad that he had to cut Cubone's playtime but they did need to get going. Before they left though, he paid his respect for Marowak and then left the tower and decided to spend the night out in the field and he slept under that stars that night.

The next day Kiiro spent a good portion of the day shopping from TMs and other useful items and she was just making her way to the game corner when she saw Aki. She ran and glomped him. "Hey, how was the tower?"

"Scary, especially the people inside. I think I heard a couple say they were possessed while they battled me." Aki replied, glad to be far away from the tower as possible. "What about you? You seem like you have a good haul."

"That's because I did. I was just going to drop this stuff off at the Pokécenter and then head to the game corner, wanna come?" She asked and together they dropped off her stuff before going to the game corner.

"How far away do you think Yuki is?" Kiiro asked.

"He's probably just leaving Lavender Town now, so he won't be here for at least a day." Aki replied. "That is, if he doesn't get stopped by too many trainers or move slowly."

Neither noticed a certain person watching them from the shadows but her cat eyes glowed yellow before she seemed to melt with the shadows.

Yuki stretched as he stood up. As fun as it was, he really didn't want to sleep on the ground so often. Gently shaking Eevee, he got her up before rolling his sleeping bag up and after a quick meal, they got on their way. They really didn't get far as there were three trainers blocking his path. "Morning, can you please move? I have to meet a couple friends of mine in Celadon and would like to get there before nightfall."

"Nope, we can't move. Or have you forgotten the rules of Pokémon battles?" The one in the middle said with blue hair. On her left stood a guy with yellow hair and on blue hair's right stood a girl with red hair. "The three of us challenge you to a one-on-one battle and the only Pokémon you may use is that Eevee." She said and pointed to Eevee.

"But then that means you can pick any Pokémon that would give you the advantage." Yuki shot back and wasn't going to play by those rules but yellow hair grinned.

"We already have our Pokémon released and we have the advantage, but not in the way you think." As he finished, a Vaporeon, Jolteon and Flareon came out from behind them.

"You see, we all had Eevees before but we found that these three were stronger and now we'll force you to choose." Red hair pulled out a fire stone while the other two did the same with their color stones and held them out in front of them. "If you make your Eevee evolve into one of these three, we will let you pass."

"That's bullcrap! I don't believe in forcing my Pokémon to evolve. If Eevee wants to stay as she is, then I'm perfectly alright with that unlike you people that don't understand a thing about Pokémon." Yuki stated.

"What? How dare you-" Yellow hair shouted but was stopped by blue hair.

"If that's the case, then we'll just have to show you how much stronger the evolved forms are than Eevee." She said and had Vaporeon attack.

"Fine, bring it." Yuki growled and looked down at Eevee. "Take them down and show you're better than they are." Eevee nodded before she met Vaporeon halfway but before she could attack her opponent, she was hit from the side from Jolteon. "What gives? It's suppose to be a one-on-one battle."

"It is, we just never specified whether when it would be all three of our turns." Yellow smirked. "So we decided to have our one-on-one battles at the same time." Jolteon and Flareon were going to battle but Flareon was pinned down by a Muk and Jolteon had one of Scyther's blade pressed against its throat.

Yuki looked around for the trainer, but couldn't find who the Pokémon were and he doubt that they were wild Pokémon that decided to help, especially since Scyther had a look that plainly read "you move and you won't like it" but Yuki pushed it to the back of his mind. "Alright Eevee, it looks like we're going to be doing this one-on-one. Go and use Quick Attack." Eevee shot off for Vaporeon and began to run circles around the opponent before she attacked and since Vaporeon was too dizzy, it didn't get back up.

As blue hair recalled Vaporeon, Scyther released Jolteon. This time, Eevee was more determined to win because of the underhanded trick. But since Jolteon had watched the battle, this one wasn't over quickly as the first one was and it was able to injure Eevee a little, but not enough to make Eevee faint. Two down and one to go.

Now Muk released Flareon but it was clear that something had happen to Flareon and when it spat on the ground, there was poison in the spit. As Flareon tried to get at Muk for that, Eevee continued to distract Flareon and managed to defeat the Flareon soon after and Yuki stepped up.  
"Now, why don't we see how well you three do against me." He said and cracked his knuckles but the trio dropped their stones and ran away. "Is there anyone that actually adheres to the rules?" He asked and knelt down to pick up the stones before picking them up and stood back up to thank the Pokémon only to see that they were gone. With a frustrated sigh, he healed Eevee and continued on his way. As his Pokémon were being healed in the Pokécenter, he took that chance to call Aki and Kiiro to let them know he was planning on going to Vermilion City in order to get the Thunder Badge before going to Celadon, much to their disappointment but they said it would be fine. Once Yuki got his Pokémon back, he left and headed for the seaport of Vermilion City.

They walked side-by-side in silence for a while each in their own thoughts until Eevee rubbed herself against Yuki's leg. "Hey, you did good today." Yuki said as he picked Eevee up. _"I just wished I knew what you were saying sometimes."_

"_You need to learn how to speak my language."_ He heard a voice in his head and looked around for a moment to find the source of the voice but found no one around him. He knew it wasn't Mewtwo because this voice had a softer sounding voice. So he didn't look like a complete ass, he didn't say his question out loud. _"Who said that?"_ He asked in his mind.

"_Really Master, I'm right in front of you and you still don't realize it's me speaking?"_

"_Eevee? I can understand you. But how are we communicating?"_

"_You expect me to know? I was just lying in your arms minding my own business when I heard your voice in my head."_

Yuki thought back to the time when he conversed with Mewtwo and wondered if that was another ability that he had picked up. _"That's great, I think it has something to do with the night I met Mewtwo. He said that some of his powers might transfer over to me but so far I've only been able to teleport short distances and even then, I haven't done it all that much."_

"_Master…"_

"_Call me Yuki, please. Master doesn't sit right with me."_

"_Mas… Yuki… I'm glad I met you. You don't know how much you mean to me."_ Eevee purred and bumped Yuki's chin with her head but was silent for a few more minutes. _"Yuki, did you want me to evolve or are you happy with me just the way I am?"_

Yuki nearly tripped over his feet when he heard Eevee. It took him a while to answer because he wasn't quite sure what he wanted exactly. _"Well, I like you the way you are and it's up to you if you want to evolve or not. The same goes for which stone you want me to use on you."_

"_But I want to evolve into something that you'll like."_

"_I'll still like you no matter which form you take. That I promise."_ Yuki could sense that Eevee was distressed about the whole thing so he came up with an idea. _"How about this: when we get to the Pokécenter, I'll ask for a private room and will put the three stones equal distance apart. Then I'll provide a picture of Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Flareon above the stones. I'll also let you list to the Pokédex information on the three of them and then I'll walk out of the room so you don't feel pressured into picking one form over the other. How does that sound?"_

"_I like that plan, except that it puts the pressure onto me to decide."_

"_But that's the way it should be, you're the one that is going to be evolving and you'll stay like that for the rest of your life."_

"_Is it possible to remain as I am now?"_

"_Of course it is."_

Both Eevee and Yuki felt better. They weren't too far from Vermilion City since they could smell the salt water but they had to battle a few trainers that they came across. Finally, they entered Vermilion City and Yuki requested a private room, not mind spending the money for it. When they were inside the room, Yuki put the stones down close to equal distance away from where Eevee stood and he added a picture above them. "I'm going to play all the Pokédex files for you and your evolutions okay?" He asked and Eevee nodded.

"Eevee. Its genetic code is irregular. It may mutate if it is exposed to radiation from element stones." A quick switch to the next Pokémon. "Vaporeon. Lives close to water. Its long tail is ridged with a fin which is often mistaken for a mermaid's." Another switch. "Jolteon. It accumulates negative ions in the atmosphere to blast out 10000volt lightning bolts." The last switch. "When storing thermal energy in its body, its temperature could soar to over 1600 degrees."

"Alright Eevee? I'll leave the room and take all the time you need to, just tell me when you made your choice." Yuki said as he petted Eevee a few times and kissed her forehead.

"_I will Yuki. Thank you."_ Eevee returned and waited for Yuki to leave the room before she sat down and looked at the different stones and what she could evolve into. It only took a half hour but Eevee finally made her choice. _"Yuki. I made my choice." _She waited for Yuki to come in before leading him over to the water stone. _"This is my choice, I wish to be a Vaporeon."_ She told him and Yuki picked up the stone before lightly touching it to her head. Eevee became surrounded by a white light and when it faded, she stood proudly as a Vaporeon. _"What do you think Yuki?"_ She asked and was suddenly afraid that she made the wrong choice.

"_I think you look beautiful like that."_ Yuki replied as he picked up Vaporeon and nuzzled her while she felt the heat rise to her face. _"Of course, that's not to say you weren't beautiful as an Eevee."_

"_Thank you Yuki."_ Vaporeon replied and made herself comfortable in his arms while he picked up the remaining two stones and pocketed them.

"Now, let's get some dinner to celebrate, then we'll scout out the gym briefly before coming back here for a good night's sleep." Yuki declared and Vaporeon agreed. Dinner that night was enjoyable and they had a lovely time staking out the gym though they couldn't see much other than several trash cans.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Yuki and Vaporeon stood tall outside the gym and together they entered and stopped within the doors to read a sign. "The lightning American. That should give us an idea as to what we're going up against." Yuki said and strolled straight through only to find a set of doors blocked his path. "Curses, foiled again. Well Vaporeon, guess we start looking through the trash." Yuki said and reached into the nearest trash can and only received a shock and quickly pulled his hand out. "Are they all trapped?" He asked himself more than anything and went to the next trash can only to hear a "ding" and he went through until he found another which allowed the doors to open.

Walking in, he saw a really tall man standing in the center of the room with his arms folded across his chest. "So, I see I have another baby that has come to battle me. In America!" He said loudly while Yuki looked behind him before pointing to himself. "Yes you baby."

"Shut up, I am not a baby!" Yuki shouted back.

"Yes you are. I assume you're here to battle me for a gym badge?"

"That's right and I will beat you for calling me a baby."

"I dare you to send out that Pokémon at your side."

"Not doing it, if you're nicknamed the Lightning American, I am not sending a water type out."

"Smart move baby. I'm ready when you are. I am Lt. Surge, Gym Leader for the Vermilion City gym… IN AMERICA." He said as he walked to one side of the field.

"I'm and Yuki Snow. An aspiring Pokémon master." Yuki said as he and Vaporeon walked to the other side.

Lt. Surge laughed, but he wouldn't say why before summoning Voltorb.

Yuki smiled and sent out Onix. "Onix, use Tackle." He called out and his Onix slammed into the ground but Voltorb had managed to roll away in the nick of time. Yuki watched the battle for a bit when he had an idea. "Onix, use bind." Onix wrapped its body around Voltorb and slowly closed in before he had Voltorb trapped. "Looks like I win this round." He called to Lt. Surge.

On the other side, Lt. Surge smirked. "Voltorb, use Self Destruct."

"Wait, WHAT?" Yuki shouted in surprise as Voltorb exploded, making both Pokémon faint. _No, I need Onix._ He thought and was forced to recall Onix since he couldn't battle anymore. He then sent out Gastly while Lt. Surge sent out Raichu. Gastly battled and evolved into Haunter but Raichu quickly defeated Haunter. Yuki then sent out Pikachu but it was quickly defeated by speed and strength. For the first time, Yuki lost and he could only stand there stunned, not being able to believe that he lost his first battle and Lt. Surge wasn't helping any with his relentless teasing. As tears threaten to spill, Yuki turned and walked quickly from the gym so he could avoid breaking down in public, and in front of Lt. Surge.

Yuki walked into the Pokécenter and gave his injured Pokémon to Nurse Joy before walking defeated back to his room before sitting on the edge of the bed not really focusing on anything.

Vaporeon tried to cheer Yuki up, but even she gave up after a while and curled up on the edge of the bed before going to sleep.

Nurse Joy knocked lightly before entering. "Don't beat yourself up too much; many trainers lose their first battle to Lt. Surge." She spoke kindly and sat next to Yuki on the bed.

"Losing the first gym match wasn't the worst part." Yuki said and covered his eyes.

"It's being called a baby isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

"I've heard that line so many time that it's not even funny anymore… Not that it ever was. But there's a trick to beating him."

"What is it?" Yuki asked as he looked at Nurse Joy much like a puppy.

"The main thing is to not let his words appear to affect you that much." Nurse Joy stood up and headed over to the door. "Your Pokémon are fully healed but don't push them too hard." She then left the room and closed the door behind her as Yuki laid down on the bed and petted Vaporeon.

Giovanni stroked Persian's head as the door opened and a person with a Pokémon entered before the door closed behind them. "Good, you're right on time." He said once he heard the footsteps stop.

"What do you want Boss?" The figure asked.

"I'm getting on in my years and I'm not sure how long I'll be around so I want to start training my successor in case something happens."  
"But you're the most efficient leader right now. None of the other Rockets can be considered worthy to carry on your great name."

"You flatter me but I know the truth. The other reason why I called you here was because I believe you may be the only one that Mewtwo will fully listen to." He didn't have to turn around in order to know the person was shocked.

"But how do you know?"

"Because I believe you two had a shared past at one point or another. Think about it, you're the ultimate Pokémon Master at the moment. Wouldn't you also like to have the ultimate Pokémon at your side as well?" Giovanni smirked as he could tell from the silence that the person was seriously considering the offer. "That's all for now. I will call you in a couple of days for your answer." He dismissed the other person and the Pokémon before they quickly left. He chuckled, obviously pleased with himself that he could control the Pokémon Master so well.

This time Yuki changed how he battled, choosing to use a Rock and Ground type base for his Pokémon. He didn't let the taunting get to him this time. His team consisted of Diglett, Graveler, and Onix but much like the first time, he lost once more. His third time resulted in the same as the first two matches but Yuki made it a part of his plan as he and his Pokémon trained diligently throughout the day. The fifth time he walked in fully confident that he was walking away with the Thunder Badge this time. "Lt. Surge, you're going down this time." Yuki declared calm enough that the temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees.

"Oh? So the baby thinks he can win this time… IN AMERICA." Lt. Surge chuckled and sent out his first Pokémon. "Fine then! Let's see you put your money where your mouth is baby!" He shouted loudly that some spectators had to cover their ears.

Yuki chuckled and launched his plan into action. He had Diglett use one move but as Voltorb moved, Yuki had Diglett change into countering Voltorb.

"Self Destruct."

"Dig!" Both trainers shouted at the same time and because of the previous battles, Diglett burrowed under the ground and cleared the blast radius while Voltorb effectively knocked itself out. Lt. Surge's next Pokémon was Pikachu and Yuki weighed his options before recalling Diglett and summoning Graveler. The winner of that round was Graveler by a long shot. "Anytime you're ready to throw in the towel, just say so." Yuki called over to Lt. Surge. "The last three times I lost were in preparation for this battle."

Lt. Surge growled and sent out Raichu. Raichu was barely able to defeat Graveler by managing to get an electrically charge kick right at Graveler's eyes but Yuki wasn't worried as he brought out Onix.

"Raichu, use Quick Attack!" Lt. Surge yelled and while Raichu was faster than when he first fought Ash, the attack didn't affect Onix that much.

Yuki watched Raichu for a moment, then looked at Onix. "Use Rock Throw, now!" Onix smashed the battle ground and because of all the tunnels Diglett had dug, the ground split opened quickly and the once flat ground turned rugged which caused Raichu to be tossed into the air. While Raichu was helpless, Onix picked up a few pieces of the battle arena and threw them at Raichu. By the time Raichu hit the ground, it was uncurious and Yuki was declared the winner.

Lt. Surge walked around the gym floor and shook Yuki's hand. "Very well played young man." He said just as loudly, though now there seemed to be laughter in his voice. "I should have known you were planning something like this… IN AMERICA."

Yuki thought his hand would be crushed but he didn't let go until Lt. Surge did. "Thank you, I had to find a way to beat you in a spectacular fashion for calling me a baby."

"You won't be hearing that from me for the rest of your life. Here's the Thunder Badge, as promised." Lt. Surge handed Yuki his third badge before they left.

"_Way to go Yuki!"_ Vaporeon cheered as she added a little skip to her steps. _"I'll admit, I thought you were just losing to lose."_

"_That's exactly what I wanted everyone to think."_ Yuki replied as he smiled down at Vaporeon. _"The other Pokémon knew what I was asking for before I went and did that."_

"_Ah, so that's why you didn't want me to hear your conversation with them."_

"_Yep, I know that you wouldn't have said anything but sometimes surprises are better left unwrapped until it's time to reveal them."_ They soon walked into the Pokécenter and he didn't have to say anything to Nurse Joy as she could already guess why he seemed in such high spirits. As a reward to his Pokémon for what they went through, Yuki took them into Diglett's Cave and let them roam around freely for the day, free to do whatever they wanted.

Ash sighed as he plopped down onto his bed and looked at the ceiling. Checking his phone he saw that all his friends had tried to call him at least twice, Brock and Misty calling no less than ten times. He looked over at Pikachu who was asleep on the pillow and he smiled sadly. "Sorry you have to go through this as well buddy." He said softly but Pikachu didn't respond which he didn't expect. Looking back at his phone, he thought about calling someone that he considered a friend but with each person he felt guilty since there wasn't much he could talk about. The doorbell rang and Ash got up and closed his closet door before opening it to find Lance.

"Hey Ash, do you have a few minutes?" Lance asked as he tucked some papers under his arm.

What Ash really wanted was to fall asleep but he invited the Dragon Master into his room. "What's up Lance?"

"Well the other Elite four members and I were considering to making the Indigo Plateau a little more challenging. We would like to make our rooms reflect our respective Pokémon types."

"Sure, I don't see why not." Ash said as he stretched while Lance looked startled, clearly not expecting Ash to answer that quickly. "Sorry Lance, I'm tired and would rather just sleep and discuss this another day."

Lance stood up. "Sorry Ash, you should have just said so in the first place. You know where to find me when you're ready." Lance said and left the room.

Ash removed his shirt and tossed it in front of the closest. He had to admit, the idea of working besides a certain Pokémon would be great but he also knew that he could never give up Pikachu. Walking into the bathroom, he splashed some cold water onto his face and tried to shake away the tiredness but he simply couldn't stay awake much longer and was out soon as he hit the bed.

Yuki activated a Pokéball and Ponyta came out. "Ponyta, how do you feel up for a run?" He asked as he stroked her mane, not worried about getting burned. Soon Yuki and Vaporeon were riding Ponyta across the land and they made good time but they soon saw two Pokémon in their path. "Whoa girl, easy." Ponyta slowed to a stop and Vaporeon jumped off Ponyta's back. Both Flareon and Jolteon looked badly injured and beaten.

"What happened here?" Yuki asked as he walked over to the injured Pokémon and used a couple of potions to at least heal their injuries.

"_Yuki, these are the same two that I fought when I was still an Eevee."_ Vaporeon said before she licked at their heads to wake them up.

"_Can you ask them what happened when they wake up?"_

"_I was planning on it but they'll need to be treated soon."_ Vaporeon told Yuki as Flareon opened her eyes. They conversed in their language for several minutes before Vaporeon told Yuki what happened. _"Their trainers were displeased with out easily they lost to me and they tortured them non-stop for the last four days with only very small breaks. They managed to escape yesterday but because of their injuries, they were slowed down. She also said that their trainers came after them and their sister, Rayne, gave them a chance to escape."_

"_Crap. Those bastards are asking for it. Can you get them to tell us where the trainers are hiding?"_

"_I know where they are but these two need to be treated soon otherwise there's a chance they might die."_ Vaporeon said sadly. Yuki knew what he had to do and could only hope that Rayne could hold on for a little while longer. He carefully put Flareon onto Ponyta's back and released Pidgeotto. "I need you to be careful with Jolteon, but we also need speed."

"_Maybe I should ride on Pidgeotto's back to keep Jolteon from falling off?  
_ Vaporeon suggest and so Yuki put Jolteon and Vaporeon onto Pidgeotto's back. As Pidgeotto took to the sky, Yuki climbed onto Ponyta and they took off for the Pokécenter. _"The closest one is in Saffron City, but that's still at least half a day of hard riding. Let Pidgeotto know and I promise she can rest when this is over."_ Yuki was going to make sure that his Pokémon rested well after this but time was the enemy here.

They managed to reach Saffron City and Pidgeotto nearly crashed landed while Ponyta panted heavily. He recalled the two Pokémon and carried the injured ones into the Pokécenter. "I have three Pokémon that need to be healed." He told Nurse Joy. "This one I need because there's another injured Pokémon that I have to save." Yuki was glad that Nurse Joy took the Pokémon without asking questions and promised to fill her in when he got back. Minutes later, he got Ponyta back and was barely out the doors when he was hopping onto Ponyta's back and began to run. "We'll need even more haste this time girl. I know you can do it." He told Ponyta and though Ponyta didn't want to run again so soon, she knew her trainer was counting on her so she ran fast as she could. Along the way, Yuki called Officer Jenny and she promised to meet him there.

Ponyta felt her insides burning up and she wasn't sure how much further she could run but at the same time, the heat felt welcoming and she evolved into Rapidash. Suddenly she felt reborn and took off with an extra burst of speed while Yuki cried out in surprise before he held on tighter. They reached the house where Flareon said they would and Rapidash looked like that long run hadn't even been a stretch of her legs. Quietly, he snuck up to one of the windows and climbed in once he was sure the coast was clear.

Walking silently through the house, he found a door which led to a basement and he swallow before going downstairs to a sight that he would never forget for the rest of his life. Amongst all the items stood a table in the middle of the room and as he ran over to it, he really wished he hadn't. Rayne laid there with too many cuts to count and various objects stuck in her body. It was clear that her body had been broken several times and her breathing came out in labored gasps. He lightly touched Rayne's head and she opened one eye and flinched away from the touch. "It's okay; I'm getting you out of here." Yuki said softly and seriously wanted to murder those trainers that did such a horrible thing to a Pokémon. There was a yell and Yuki spun around to see a Growlithe attached to yellow hair's arm.

"Put your hands in the air now." Office Jenny said sternly. "Yuki, I suggest you get out of here."

Yuki nodded and quickly worked to remove the various objects from Rayne's body and carefully as he could pick up the injured Pokémon and headed outside before getting on Rapidash and running back towards Saffron City. The only good thing about the objects in Rayne were that they kept the blood from seeping out but Yuki wasn't worried about a bit of ruin clothing. It wasn't all that long, but it seemed to take forever to get to Saffron City and when they entered, people were forced to run to the side of the street to avoid being trampled and many cursed Yuki until they saw the blood trail that was being formed behind him. They arrived in the Pokécenter and Yuki immediately handed Rayne to Nurse Joy and was going to follow them where ever they took her but he was held back, however, neither human nor Pokémon saw another Vaporeon slip in behind Nurse Joy and Chanseys. Yuki walked over to the waiting are and slumped down into a chair and waited. After several hours, the light above the ER turned off and Yuki ran to wait outside the doors but once he saw Nurse Joy and Vaporeon looking crushed, he suddenly had a bad feeling about the news he was going to receive.

"I'm sorry, the Vaporeon didn't make it. The injuries were too extensive." Nurse Joy said and started to list off what Rayne suffered through but Yuki tuned her out, he didn't even realize that he was escorted to a private room until he felt Vaporeon jump up onto the bed and butted his chin with her head.

"I tried my hardest so save her and I failed in the end." Yuki said softly as he held onto Vaporeon.

"_You didn't fail Yuki. You actually saved her."_ Vaporeon said and licked his cheek. _"I was with her when she died. Do you know what her last words were?"_

Yuki shook his head. _"No, what did she say?"_

"_She was happy that her brother and sister were saved, she thanked me for being there with her in her final moments. But her last words were meant for you. She wanted me to thank you for saving them and for saving her life."_ Vaporeon finished softly. _"She didn't want to die at their hands and knew she wasn't going to live much longer so she prayed for someone to get her in someplace where she could die peacefully and you did. You save her soul."_

"_I just wished I could have saved her life as well."_

"_I know, you don't know how hard it was for me to hear all this but we should be happy that we saved her in a small way at least."_

"_You're right. Vaporeon, I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you."_

"_Don't worry, I'll always stick by your side through thick and thin and that's a promise."_

"_Thanks. I'll remember that."_ Yuki kissed Vaporeon.

"Now go and get clean, I've smelled Rayne's blood enough already and smelling it on you is making me think I'm going to be sick." Vaporeon jumped from Yuki's arms and sniffed herself. "Ugh, now it's on me as well." She complained.

"I'll give you a bath, but let me get Rapidash cleaned as well." Yuki said and patted Vaporeon's head and went to have Rapidash healed and cleaned. When that task was done, he entered the room and began to run the bathwater making it warm to the touch. He stripped out of his clothes and put them into the trash bin but even with the clothes, the blood that Rayne had bled was enough to soak through his clothing and stain him. He was just about to enter the bath when Vaporeon entered.

"_Yuki, can I join you? I think I really will be sick if I have Rayne's blood on me much longer."_ Vaporeon asked and Yuki couldn't help but to blush but he nodded after a moment and Vaporeon hopped into the tub. _"What's the matter Yuki?"_

Yuki joined Vaporeon and began to scrub his body with soap. _"Well, it's the first time you've seen me fully naked."_

"_Is that such a big deal? You see me naked every day."_

"_Yes, but humans are different from Pokémon."_

"_I can get out if it makes you too uncomfortable."_

"_No, you don't have to."_ Yuki began to scrub Vaporeon's body as well. _"It's just that boys and girls aren't supposed to see each other naked. It's mainly because we have different sets of equipment and it's a naughty thing to show it before you find a person you love."_

"_That's stupid."_

"_Yeah, tell me about it but I didn't make the rules."_ Due to the amount of blood, the water had turned a cloudy red and Yuki was forced to drain the tub before refilling it a second time. _"Things would be much simpler if we were Pokémon, that's for sure." _He chuckled as they got into the tub again.

"_Thanks for letting me know. What are your views on that?"_

"_I say people should have a right to decide when they want to be naked and who they want to share that with."_ Since most of the blood had washed away, they spent some time splashing each other with the water and Yuki showed Vaporeon his version of Water Gun. They continued playing around until the water was cold and Yuki climbed out though Vaporeon didn't seem to mind as much but she hopped out as well. Once they were dried, he put on fresh clothes and exited the bathroom only to promptly be glomped by Kiiro.

"We heard what happened. Are you alright?" She asked as Aki looked up from his Glacier Game Boy color in which there was a strip of red sticking out from the back.

"I'm fine with all things considered." Yuki said and told them the story with Vaporeon sitting by his side the entire time.

He finished the story and they decided to get some dinner so they went out for a nice restaurant. "What's been new with you two since I've been away?"

"Well, I got the Gym badge from Erika and you should have seen me." Aki said with a grin. "It was my easiest gym battle yet because all of Erika's Pokémon are grass type and my Charizard walked through them with no problem."

"And I appear to be quite the winner at slot machines." Kiiro said with a smile.

"Yeah, man I thought she was going to lose so many times but she always came out on top." Aki filled in, still not quite believing that Kiiro wasn't cheating.

"Well I'm not that good of a player. I mean I've only won a few times." Kiiro blushed.

"Oh quit being so modest. Yuki, you would agree with me when she tells you what Pokémon prizes she got."

"Really? What did you get Kiiro?" Yuki asked and Kiiro released a Porygon, Pinsir and Dratini. "I got enough for the three of us."

"Very nice Kiiro."

"Dude, not just nice, she's kick-ass. The Porygon cost 9,999 coins. EACH." Aki said with the emphases on each and Yuki almost fell out of his chair.

"You're kidding me?" Yuki asked and looked to Kiiro to make sure Aki wasn't making that number up.

"Nope, he's not messing with you." Kiiro agreed as she recalled her three new Pokémon.

"Wow, that's just incredible. Remind me not to bet against you in anything relating to slot machines." Yuki said and they laughed. As they finished their meal, they walked outside and looked at the evening sunset. "I do have one piece of good news, though it has some bad news attached to it."

"Really? I'm surprised that you even have any good news." Aki teased and Yuki slugged him on the arm.

"Shut up. I have the Thunder Badge." Yuki showed them the case. "As for the bad news, I lost my first gym battle."

"That's too bad but congrats on getting the badge." Kiiro said. "How did you do it?"

"I lost the next three battles against Lt. Surge on purpose so I could study his moves and then the fifth time I beat him by countering every move he made." They continued to joke around as they made it back to the Pokécenter before turning in for the night.


	8. Chapter 8

It was around midnight that Yuki shot up from a nightmare due to the images that he saw. Gently waking Vaporeon, he scribbled a note for the other two and walked around Saffron City with Vaporeon on his shoulders. _"Sorry for waking you, I just can't seem to fall asleep after witnessing that nightmare."_

"_It's okay Yuki. I think I saw what you saw that day."_ Vaporeon described what she saw and it was the same as Yuki saw.

"_You two need to learn how to shield your thoughts better."_ An unknown voice said inside both their heads and they stopped to make sure they were alone.

"_Who are you?"_Yuki asked.

"_Come to my gym and you'll find out."_ The female's voice said before it faded away from their minds.

"_Guess we have no choice if we want to know."_ Yuki grumbled and headed for the gym. However, when they reached their destination, they saw that there were two gyms, one that seemed like it had been closed and the other that remained opened. Getting a strong sense of energy, Yuki picked the gym on the right and walked in. Inside there were several walls that made him think this would be a small gym but there was a glowing tile near the middle.

"_Yuki, be careful."_ Vaporeon said.

"_I will."_ Yuki replied and stepped onto the tile, expecting nothing to happen only to find out that he didn't have the entrance behind him anymore, instead it was simply four walls with four glowing tiles near each of the corners.

"_This is my challenge to you."_ The voice returned. _"Fine your way to me and I'll answer all of your questions. That I promise you."_ The voice then left their minds again.

Yuki sighed and decided to go to the tile nearest to him, which took him to another room that looked like the one he just left. After several tries, he worked out a plan to step into the portal that was directly across from in and though it took a while, they found themselves in a room with two other tiles beside the one they stood on. Walking over to the tile in the middle, they found they were in a large room with a girl and a haunter and Kadabra on either side of her.

"Welcome, you have managed to find you way to me." The girl said as her long dark green hair swayed gently. "I am Sabrina, The Master of Psychic Pokémon and Leader of the Saffron City Gym." She introduced herself.

"I am Yuki Snow. A trainer with the intention of becoming the best." Yuki replied.

"Yes, I know who you are. I have read your mind." Sabrina told him. "I know what haunts you but I'm curious. You were not born with psychic powers, yet you can clearly hear my words. How did this happen?"

"I met a Psychic Pokémon named Mewtwo." Yuki recalled that night. "I tried to help him but the only thing that did happen was that some of his abilities transferred to me."

"What abilities exactly?"

"So far I've only used Teleport and thought-speaking." Yuki replied. "Are there other abilities that I don't know about?"

"That I don't know for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if you could bend spoons with your mind but perhaps I can teach you, or rather my Kadabra could." A ghost of a smile fell on Sabrina's features. "But don't think I'll go easy on you. In fact, why don't we make this worthwhile. If you show promise, I will give you the Marsh Badge without a battle."

"You really would?" Yuki asked, it being a first for him.

"Why not? If you are able to beat me using what you have learned, then how is that any different from our Pokémon beating each other?"

"Alright. You have a point." Yuki replied. "I'll beat you in three weeks instead of a month. Think you can handle it?"

"I hope you do not disappoint me, otherwise the consequences will be dire." Sabrina warned but Yuki showed no signs of standing down. "Very well, I will tell you one piece of information. When you appear back in the first room, remember well where you appear because that is a hidden tile that will warp you directly here."

"And I imagine that if I don't, I'll have to go through the whole maze again?" Yuki asked and Sabrina nodded. "But then if it's hidden, how will I know if it knows I'm standing on it?"

"It will sense your psychic energy but I'm sure you'll figure it out." She then levitated into the air. "Your training starts tomorrow." She said before she and her Pokémon disappeared.

"Can we wait for another day? A Pokémon died that I tried to save and I think it would bring peace to her brother and sister when she is laid to rest."

Sabrina quickly read Yuki's mind and sensed it was too troubled to effectively learn new things. "Very well, do what you need to in order to let your mind rest. Well will start when you return."

"Thank you. I won't disappoint you Sabrina." Yuki said before picking up Vaporeon. "Let's get back to the Pokécenter." He said and tried to teleport out but there was too much psychic energy so he stepped on the tile and made note of where he appeared at. Once he was outside, the air felt much lighter and he teleported back to his room in the Pokécenter. That night, he didn't get any sleep since he was too excited at the prospect of unlocking these powers that Mewtwo gave him plus this time he didn't feel any tiredness from teleporting.

The next morning, Yuki carried Rayne wrapped up in a white sheet while Vaporeon walked besides him. Jolteon and Flareon walked side by side behind them while Kiiro and Aki brought up the rear. They weren't challenged once on the way to Lavender Town and the Channelers did need to speak to guess what happen to put the trio in such a solemn mood. A couple of thing cleansed the air where they walked while others kept the Gastlys and Haunters at Bay.

There was an open spot on the sixth floor when Yuki laid Rayne to rest and stepped back so they could put a grave marker over her. "I'm sorry I couldn't get back in time to save you." Yuki began as he looked at the blank slate. "I wrote a new definition of great haste to try and get to you. I was lucky in that sense that I could free you from their torture. As Vaporeon told me, I did save you; I just wished that it would have been completely." Yuki spoke awkwardly, never having to give a speech to the dead before.

He finished and Jolteon took his place. When Jolteon was finished, Flareon nuzzled his shoulder on the way to the same spot. She didn't say anything, just sat there for several long minutes. What surprised everyone was that Vaporeon also went up and sat next to Flareon and like Flareon, she didn't say anything out loud but Yuki heard her.

"_Rayne, you were a formidable opponent when we fought. You seem to have a sense of honor about you. I thank you for letting your brother and sister escape and I feel that you are watching them even in the afterlife." _She felt silent for a few minutes._ "I also thank you for telling me your last words, I passed them along just as you instructed so you may rest in peace."_ She finished and put one paw onto Flareon's shoulder and they stayed like that for a couple of seconds before walking back to the trainers and Jolteon. Together, they walked out of the tower and the trio thanked the Channelers for their help before they headed back towards Saffron City.

"_Yuki. Wait up a second."_Vaporeon watched as Yuki stop and turn around to see Jolteon and Flareon following them. They conversed in their native tongue for a few minutes before Vaporeon relayed it to Yuki._ "They thank you for rescuing them and Rayne. They also want to know if they might be able to travel with you because of your kindness and the fact they really don't have anywhere to go now."_

"_Tell them that they don't have to come with us out of obligation, they're free to choose what they want. And remind them that I can only have six Pokémon on me at a time, so they may not be with us all that much." _A few moments later Yuki got his response.

"_They understand all of it and do not mind if they stay somewhere, just as long as they're connected to you."_

Yuki knelt down and took out a couple of Pokéballs from his bag. "Jolteon, Flareon, are you sure you want to travel with me? Even if you might not be with me all the time?" Yuki asked and Jolteon jumped up and began licking Yuki's face and it wasn't long before Flareon did the same. "I'll make a deal with you, if you join me, I'll let you be free to go where ever you want whenever." Yuki was surprised when they shook their heads before going into the Pokéballs.

"_They don't feel like traveling unless it's with you."_ Vaporeon said before she was picked up by Yuki and the trio started their way once more.

"Um, Yuki, how did you know what they were saying?" Aki asked.

"I thought I told you guys. When I met with Mewtwo, he transferred some of his powers to me." Yuki replied.

"You did say that, but you never told us you could talk to Pokémon as if you understand them." Kiiro backed Aki up.

"Oh, that. It's because I really only learned how to communicate with Vaporeon only recently." Yuki said as the realization dawned on him. "Even then, I can only hear Vaporeon so I still have to have her translate other Pokémon for me."

"You're lucky. There are times I wonder what my Pokémon are saying." Aki said.

"I think it would just be nice to be able to talk to Pokémon and understand them." Kiiro said with a smile.

"Who knows, maybe you'll invent the human-Pokémon translator one day." Yuki said while Kiiro had a thoughtful look on her face.

They stopped to have a picnic sort of lunch when Yuki remembered something. "I'm not going to keep traveling with you for at least three weeks. You see, Sabrina has offered to give me a few pointers on how to deal with the psychic powers that I have."

"What? When did you make this arrangement and when are you starting?" Aki asked surprised. "I mean, I wanted to be able to show you the new moves my Pokémon have."

"I made the deal last night because I couldn't sleep and I'm going to start tomorrow." Yuki said calmly.

"And I was hoping we might be able to travel together for a bit." Aki grumbled.

"Sorry guys, in a way, I prefer to be on my own more than with others. Don't get me wrong, it's great having you as friends it's just that I'm not much of a people person." The rest of the lunch was passed in silence and they soon started walking but the mood was quickly liven up since it wouldn't do to pass the rest of the remaining time with dark thoughts.

That morning came and they said their good-byes again and Yuki reported to the Saffron City gym while Kiiro and Aki continued on their quest. The next three weeks seemed to fly by. Aki got the fourth and fifth gym badges, Kiiro went back to Pewter City in order to further train under Brock and Yuki continued to train under Sabrina. She had ordered him to rest on the day before last as she was going to test him in order to hold him to his words. Yuki stood at one end of the battle arena while Sabrina levitated on the other side. "Begin when you're ready." Sabrina said completely serious.

Yuki shielded his thoughts from Sabrina and charged in while drawing three triangles in one fluid motion ending with his finger connecting the starting point and moving his arm to the left side of his body before throwing it across to his right side. The top triangle became red, the right triangle became blue and the left triangle became yellow before they shot in a spiral pattern towards Sabrina, who blocked it with little effort.

"That's not going to work on me." She stated and tried to pick Yuki up only to find that Yuki stayed on the ground and that the three color triangles had split and all honed in on her. She managed to avoid the brunt of the attack but there was a small trail of smoke coming from her. "Not bad for a start." She said and with every successful hit he landed on her, she stepped up her game but due to years of practice, she hadn't even began to get tired where as Yuki was soon starting to slow down while his head felt like it would be split opened. "Are you ready to quit?"

"No, I don't care that I have to risk my head splitting open, I'm not going to back down." Yuki stated and began to gather up the last remaining energy he could produce into one final attack. "Besides, I have the strength of my friends and my Pokémon to support me and with their help, I can do anything." He knew it was cheesy, but as he spoke of them, he felt their presences in his mind and he smiled. "I'm going to go all out with one final attack."

"Very well, I shall do the same." Sabrina replied and gathered her energy as well. Both of them levitated into the air and charged at each other. There was a blinding flash and both landed on their original sides. For a moment, neither of them moved then Yuki started falling forward. _Impossible. I thought I had her._ He thought and managed to catch himself on his hands and knees before he collapsed completely. With a shock, he felt more than saw Sabrina coming towards him but instead of attacking, she held out her hand and in it was the Marsh Badge. "I may have won this battle, but it was only due to my experience. Had we been on fully equal terms, I would most likely be on the ground as well." She said before helping him up and letting him rest in her chair.

"Thank you Sensei." Yuki said tiredly. It was very little doubt that he crashed onto the bed the moment he got back to the Pokécenter but Vaporeon stayed up and channeled surfed through the stations for something to do. The first channel had a guy talking really loud about some product, the second one was about this show where seven kids were transported to a different world and the third one was about a news report.

"We bring you this urgent report." The reporter said as she looked into the camera. "This man has just been arrested for selling Magikarps on the pretext that they were actually legendary Pokémon. It has been revealed that other crimes were the selling of Slowpoke tails and for being unnecessarily rough with trainers if they refused to buy the products that he was attempting to sell. I think it's fair to say that his crime given days are over. Back to you-" Vaporeon turned off the TV and hopped onto the bed next to Yuki before curling up next to him and falling asleep.

"And there you have it Ma'am." A person said as he turned off the TV in a lush room. There was only a couch, a desk, the TV and a chair in which another person sat in.

"It's not a worry; he was an idiot for trying to do too much too quickly." Pixie said, her pale jade eyes could give anyone the feeling that she could see into their soul with them. "We'll just have to proceed with our original plan. Alan, you are dismissed." She said and Alan bowed before leaving while Pixie closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

_Flashback:_

A young pixie sat on the roof of her house as she watched the sun setting and waited for an exact moment that she was waiting for. When twilight fell on the land, she stood up and made her wish. _I wish to be the best Pokémon trainer ever._ She thought with all her might and stayed up on the roof until night settled over the town. It wasn't long afterwards that she started to becoming obsessed with the twilight and that fine balance as she would spend several days locked up in her room studying about it and it grew to a point where she had three darker color Pokémon and three lighter color Pokémon.

She nearly accomplished her goal to be the best but that was when fate decided to pull the rug from under her. Suddenly her Pokémon weren't listening to her and even attacked her a few times; her house had caught fire and burned to the ground with her parents and a few favorite Pokémon inside and to add insult to injury, she couldn't win a single match no matter how hard she tried. Eventually, she grew to curse the twilight and for it failing to let her reach her mission. It was about that time that she made a connection in her mind and she smiled darkly.

"If day and night balance each other out with twilight in the middle… day can become light and night becomes darkness… then twilight would have to become…" She looked on her desk to her only drawing that survived the fire, light and shadow clashing against one another but she wasn't interested in the sides, she was interested in the middle. "…Twilight becomes chaos. It I couldn't have my wish granted, then I'll make sure that everyone feels my pain." She laughed and smirked. "Then I will be able to achieve my goals."

It was then that she started spreading chaos wherever she went and when Officer Jenny began to suspect her, she faded into the shadows and slowly gathered followers.

_End Flashback._

Pixie opened her eyes and stood up. She was going to make this place hers if it was the last thing she did. Once it was hers, she knew she would make all the rules that would enable her to become more powerful than even the Pokémon Master. As she left her room, she walked to the science lab where her trusted advisor stood working on an invention. "Wolf, what do you have for me?"

Wolf turned around with a grin on his face. "Ah Pixie, I was hoping you might be coming by soon. I have just finished this tiny device." He held a necklace up to her. It only had a small ruby diamond in the center of it. "You see, as long as you wear this, all the Pokémon will think you are their trainer and will listen to you. We've tested it on several Pokémon and they all did what he obeyed them to do… other than a few things like performing cartwheels."

"I don't care if they can't do cartwheels; I just want them to be able to battle for me." Pixie snapped. "I trust this will be the master copy?"

"It can be, but why do you want to know that?"

"Because you're going to make more of these so we can spread our influence across Kanto. We're not going to be stupid like Team Rocket and focus on a certain part at a time; we're going to attack all of Kanto at once." She looked at the necklace. "Do you need this to make the others?" She asked and Wolf shook his head. "Good, then I shall hold onto this." Pixie put the necklace around her neck and left the science lab while Wolf sighed.

"No rest for the weary. Everyone, take five and then we're going to start working on more necklaces." He said and could hear the disapproval groan from everyone as their celebration had been cut short but they all had witnessed the power of that necklace and knew Pixie wouldn't think twice about turning their own Pokémon on them.

Giovanni walked down a hallway of the Team Rocket prison and he entered a room with one other occupant. "You got greedy didn't you?" he asked the man in the corner.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too. I had plans to bring you more money than what you were expecting so keep you happy." He whimpered while Giovanni turned over the table with a growl.

"That would have made me happy, but it would have been better if you had some control and not revealing who you worked for." Giovanni said as he picked up the guy. "You've been doing this for several years, why the sudden change?" He asked but the man did not reply. Another Rocket knocked and asked if he could speak to Giovanni, so the boss stepped out after shoving the man roughly back into the corner.

"Boss, we have just found on him." The Rocket member said and held up a small computer chip. "We've been testing it out but we haven't figured out what it's used for." Giovanni was about to say something when the man jumped to the door.

"I swear it wasn't me, that chip… it controlled me… forced me to sell things." He sobbed and hoped Giovanni would forgive him.

Giovanni looked at the Rocket member. "Kill him." Was all he said before leaving. He heard a Pokémon come out, the familiar cry of a Zubat and the final screams of the man and then things were silent.


	9. Chapter 9

Yuki opened his eyes to find Vaporeon curled up close as possible next to him and he smiled softly.

"_You slept a ton." _Vaporeon said as she opened one eye before yawning big. _"Seriously you slept at least an entire day."_

"_I did? That's hard to believe." _Yuki replied as he got up and felt around for his phone. After finding it, he saw that he missed several calls and that it had indeed been a day since he challenged Sabrina._ "Let's head out to Celadon City so we can spend the entire day sightseeing." _He said and Vaporeon agreed before he got up and headed for the bathroom. He quickly showered and came out in nothing but a towel since he had forgotten to grab his clothes. Just before he found them, he felt a cold stream of water hit his back and he yelped before whirling around and seeing Vaporeon sitting there innocently. "Oh no you don't, you're the only water Pokémon out in this room." He said and kept an eye on Vaporeon while he got dressed.

"_I swear it wasn't me. It was Haunter that channeled the water to hit you."_ Vaporeon said just before she jumped nimbly to the side to avoid Yuki. He chased her for a bit and when she allowed Yuki to catch her, he tickled her while she withered helplessly. _"Mercy Yuki, mercy."_ She said between laughs._ "Okay, okay, it was me that did it."_ She gasped and Yuki stopped.

"I thought it was you." He picked Vaporeon up and she got comfortable on his shoulders while he did a final check before heading out.

They got on the road fairly quickly and it was as they were walking that Yuk decided to answer the many missed phone calls but it was mainly Aki trying to reach him every two hours. They ended up playing phone tag because when Yuki got through, Aki was battling and when Aki called, Yuki was battling. Along the way, he could have sworn he was smelling something sweet but couldn't figure it out. He had asked Vaporeon said that she couldn't figure out where it was coming from either though it was a lie because she knew where it was coming from, it was just too embarrassing to talk about. The combination of Yuki asking about the sweet smell and playing phone tag went on all the way until they reached the outskirts of Celadon City where they happen to see a Pokémon battle between two familiar people.

"_Don't say anything; let's see how long it takes them to realize we're watching."_ Yuki said in his mind and they cautiously approached Aki and Kiiro. He was impressed that though Kiiro was training to be a breeder, she was able to hold her ground with little trouble and was even able to wiggle her way out of some tight spots. The battle ended and Yuki clapped. "Fancy seeing you get your ass kicked by a girl Aki." Yuki said out loud and both turned to face him. "That was a good battle you two."

"Geez, there you are." Aki said as he pushed the comment away. "We were going to head down to Fuchsia by going down cycling road but I remembered that there was something I needed to tell you."

"What is it Aki?" Yuki asked.

"It's about Erika's Gym. She made a rule so that only females can enter and challenge her." Aki said dead seriously.

"You're joking me right?" Yuki said and Vaporeon fell from his shoulders but she twisted herself and landed on her feet while Yuki looked for any sign that Aki was joking. "You really are serious?" He asked and Aki nodded his head. "Wait, then how did you get the Gym Badge?"

"She said she made the rule before, but she only received the official ruling from the Pokémon League just after I got the Badge." He showed Yuki the badge just to help reinforce his claim. "I suppose you can ask Kiiro to get it for you, but then you really wouldn't have gotten it legally."

Yuki frowned and Kiiro perked up. "In that case, I know how we can get you in. Come with me." She grabbed Yuki's hand and pulled him to her room in the Pokécenter with Aki and Vaporeon following behind them. She only let go of his hand when they were in the room with the door locked.

"Alright Kiiro, what's your plan?" Yuki asked and barely noticed Aki ducking out of the room so he didn't burst out laughing.

"Well, pick out an outfit." Kiiro said as she opened her closet and Yuki's jaw dropped as he started to form an idea as to what Kiiro's plan was. "Well?"

Yuki shook his head. "No, no, I am not dressing up like a girl."

"But if you don't do it this way, then you won't be able to get into the gym." Kiiro said and she watched as Yuki's shoulders slump in defeat.

"Alright, I'll go along with your plan but I just don't want to wear one of your outfits, Sorry but it would just feel too awkward."

"No worries, we do have the department store here. So why don't we go for the pretext that you're buying clothes for me, your girlfriend."

Yuki sighed. "Well, I suppose I could do it that way." He said and felt a twinge of anger coming from the connection and he briefly looked at Vaporeon before looking back at Kiiro. "Can I talk to Vaporeon for a couple of minutes, then we can go to the department store?"

"Sure, I'll just wait in the lobby and tell Aki to spend a lot of time in the game corner." Kiiro said before she left.

"_Don't say you're fine. What's the matter Vaporeon?" Yuki asked once he was sure that Kiiro wasn't right outside the door._

"_Sorry Yuki, I just… when she said that she was going to act like she was your girlfriend… I don't know how to describe it."_

"_Well, from what I felt, I think you were feeling jealousy. It's a feeling where you think you should be in that person's place instead of them… wait, are you trying to say you've developed feelings for me?"_

Vaporeon blushed and looked away._ "I'm sorry if that makes you upset, but I think I've felt something for you since the day you saved me. Not love that's for sure, but an admiration and I think it deepened as time went on."_

"_Ah… I will say it doesn't upset me knowing that you have feelings for me. It's just that human-Pokémon relationships aren't usually the topics you hear about and when you do, people tend to shun those in a relationship."_

"_Oh, At least you knowing is good enough for me." _Vaporeon said where she sounded like she meant it, but Yuki picked up on the subtle change in her tone.

"_Let me think about it for a bit since I wouldn't want you to get hurt." _They were going to say more but Kiiro knocked on the door and asked if they were coming or not. With a sigh, Yuki put his hand on Vaporeon's body._ "I'll explain more about it some other time but it's not pretty."_Yuki stood up and Vaporeon nodded before hopping down and they exited the room. "Kiiro, could we just be friends that are helping each other shop instead of being boyfriend/girlfriend?" Yuki asked and felt a mild surprise feeling followed by a happy one from Vaporeon and he figured it would make her feel better.

"Oh, sure. That's okay." Kiiro said and wondered what brought the change about but she didn't pry. "Then let's head to Celadon's department store!" She said with an excited voice as she led the way.

"_Thank you Yuki." _Vaporeon said as she walked next to Yuki.

"_You're welcome Vaporeon and to be honest, I don't like the idea of being her boyfriend anyway." _Yuki said as he followed Kiiro to the department store and then continued to follow her to the girl clothing section of the store. There they picked out a shoulder length black hair wig, a sky blue t-shirt and a matching skirt that stopped just above her knees. They also picked out a few more outfits just in case he would need something different. They left and hurried back to the Pokécenter to drop off the extra clothes and Yuki changed into the outfit that he tried on in the store.

"I still really hate this idea." He said to the empty room.

"_I think it looks good on you." _Vaporeon said as she looked Yuki over._ "It's kind of nice seeing you dressed like a girl."_

"_Yeah, sure, thanks."_ Yuki said with a roll of his eyes.

"_Seriously, I mean it. If you were a girl and I was human, I'd probably glomp you right now."_

"_You can glomp me any time you want to remember?"_

"_I know, but I think I'll wait." _Vaporeon stuck her tongue out at Yuki.

"_Oh yeah, that's real mature." _Yuki teased as he finished getting dressed. With Vaporeon at his side, he left the room only to find Kiiro nowhere to be seen. "Well, guess we should head out to find the gym." With that, they started to walk around Celadon City and it seemed like every guy lined up to talk to Yuki, he had to keep saying that he was already taken and dash off just to escape them.

"Excuse me." A soft voice said from behind.

"I've said it a hundred times already, I'm-" Yuki whirled around to see not a guy, but a girl with dark blue hair standing there in a kimono. "Oh, sorry about that."

"It's okay, I've seen what's been happening to you so I thought if I walked with you to wherever you're going, then maybe the men will stop approaching you."

Yuki bowed. "Thank you for the assistance. I'm Yuki Snow and I'm currently on my way to find the Celadon City Gym." This was probably the first time his name could be either for a boy or a girl when he told his new companion.

The girl's smile brightens and she took Yuki's hand into hers. "That's great. I am on my way there. I'm Erika." Erika said as she lead Yuki to the gym. "It's a bit confusing to get to but I don't really complain about it."

"I don't mind how confusing it is as long as I have you to guide me there." They continued to talk about cute Pokémon and they were still going strong when they reached the gym and Erika walked away saying she had to tend to some of the Pokémon that resided there while Yuki was left wondering where he could find the Gym Leader at.

He groaned in frustration as he couldn't find the Gym Leader and was on his way out when Erika was walking towards him.

"I apologize for the wait; a couple of Pokémon needed some items I was out for." Erika told Yuki. "But if you would like, I can battle you now."

"Thanks Erika, I appreciate your offer but I'd rather battle the Gym Leader." Yuki said and noticed Erika was pointing at one of the pillars and Yuki read it. "Wait, You're Erika, the Celadon City Gym Leader?"

"Yes, I am the Gym Leader and holder of the Rainbow Badge." Erika replied. "Do you still wish to battle me?"

"I do." Yuki replied as Erika started walking towards the center of the gym.

"Then follow me and be warned, though I do not look like it, I am a formidable foe." When they reached the arena, she took off for one side while Yuki went to the other side. Yuki sent out Rapidash while Erika sent out Victreebel.

The battle started off in Erika's favor as she had Victreebel release Sleep Powder, Poison Powder and Stun Spore practically at the same time and while Rapidash's body was able to burn the powders away, she couldn't help but to breathe in a mixture of the powders. It soon became apparent which ones were inhaled as a couple of times Rapidash found she couldn't move and she soon dozed off to sleep, leaving Victreebel to do major damage until Rapidash woke up but by then it was too late.

Yuki growled and recalled Rapidash before sending out Vulpix. Due to the weaken state of Victreebel, Vulpix was able to take it down quickly. Then Erika sent out Tangela and they battled it all with Vulpix struggling to avoid the many tentacles until she learned that burning them kept them away, the winner of that round went to Vulpix but she was tired so both trainers recalled their Pokémon.

"This is it Yuki. I'm stepping up my game a few notches." Erika said as she sent of Vileplume.

"Very well, I'll make this just as showy." Yuki replied as he sent out Haunter. "Haunter, use Hypnosis and follow it up with Dream Eater if you can." He said he noticed Erika attempting the same move she did in her opener. But haunter just let the powders pass through him and nor did he have to worry about inhaling any of it. As Haunter's Hypnosis hit Vileplume, the eyes shut and Hunter began to feast on the Pokémon's dream.

"Now Haunter, use Night Shade." Yuki said and Haunter unleashed the attack just as Vileplume woken up and it was quickly knocked out.  
"I can't believe I lost. But at least it was fair and square that you beat me." Erika said as she came over and handed Yuki the Rainbow Badge.

"Thanks. But I have just one question." Yuki said as he took the Rainbow Badge and added it to his collection. "Why don't you allow boys into the gym?"

Erika looked confused. "I can't impose any such regulations; it would be against the Pokémon League rules. The only way I would ban someone from my gym is if they insulted the perfume I make"  
"Oh, because I was told by a friend of mine that you asked to make it a girls only gym." Yuki pulled off his wig. "You see, I'm really a guy."

Erika looked shocked but quickly brushed it off. "You may tell your friend that anyone is welcome to battle me."

"I will do that." Yuki said and put the wig on once more so he didn't let people know he really was a guy. As he walked back to the Pokécenter, he kept a relatively calm expression but he was planning to show Aki his fist.

Throwing open the door, he let it slam against the wall and both Kiiro and Aki looked up suddenly. "I am going to kill you Aki." Yuki growled and took the wig off after the door was shut.

"Come on Yuki, you have to admit it was a great joke." Aki grinned before he was doused with a powerful jet of water from Vaporeon. "Alright, it might not have been funny for you but for me it was great." He said and walked past them in order to get dry clothes. Before he got too far, he suddenly felt himself get a wedgie from his underwear and he looked back to see Yuki grinning at him.

"Paybacks a bitch isn't it Aki?" Yuki asked before closing the door again in order to change from the female clothes to his normal attire.

Without warning, the Pokécenter suddenly shook as there were several loud explosions outside. Aki burst in and they ran to the windows to see what caused the explosions. "Who are they?" Aki asked as he spotted several members wearing black and white uniforms with a giant letter "C" on the front and off to the left side.

"Heck if I know, but we better get out there in case they target the Pokécenter." Yuki said and they joined several people making their way to the front doors.

"Citizens of Celadon City." Their leader spoke. "This is Team Chaos speaking. You will hand over your Pokémon to us otherwise we will cause as much chaos to erupt in this town." The leader's response was a cry of angry trainers and they released their Pokémon. "Thank you, but do not assume this is the only place we're taking control of, right now we have a team in every town."

The trio stopped listening to him and instead began talking to each other. "He said every city, does that include Pallet and Lavender Town?" Aki asked in a hushed whispered.

"No idea, but you two may want to sneak out while you can. Who knows what they're planning." Yuki said.

"I'm scared." Kiiro added.

"We all are Kiiro, but Yuki's right. We should get out of here while we have the chance." Aki said as he rubbed her arm.

"But all our stuff is still in the Pokécenter."

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to stay here and fight them with the towns people." Yuki said and they were hushed by a gentleman since the leader had stopped talking. A few seconds later he resumed and Yuki mouthed "Go" and Kiiro and Aki kept their heads low as they headed away from the crowd and got out of the City.

"I'm going to fly back to Pallet Town, I know Professor Oak is there, but he's probably not up for battling very much." Aki said and summoned Charizard. "What about you?" He asked after climbing on his Pokémon's back and offering his hand.

"I'm going to fly to Lavender Town. They're the most unprotected." Kiiro said softly. "I'm sacred, but the townspeople were so kind to us it wouldn't be proper not to repay them." She summoned Fearow and climbed onto its back before they took off.

"Good Luck. Call me when you're finished." Aki said and Kiiro agreed before they split off and headed their different directions.


	10. Chapter 10

Giovanni growled as he heard the Team Chaos attempting to disrupt everything he had worked so hard for. He pushed a button on an intercom that rose from his desk. "I want all Rocket personal to intercept this Team Chaos and take no prisoners." He said before cutting off the communication with a smirk as he knew of a way to continue drawing the Pokémon master into his scheme. He pushed another button and the phone rang a couple of times before it was picked up. "I won't waste your time as I'm sure you heard the news. As soon as we find the leader of this knock-off group, I'll relay the information to you and send you Mewtwo to personally deliver the killing blow to them." Very little else was said before Giovanni hung up the call and he took a moment to pet Persian before making a few other calls.

Back in Celadon City, Yuki watched as his friends successfully got out of the city and he turned to the leader and released his Pokémon as well. He was going to show them, along with the rest of the people, that they weren't going to give up their Pokémon without a fight.

The Leader smiled as he saw the wide array of Pokémon in front of him. "Pokémon, come to my side, those people there are not your trainers and want to kill you the moment you outlive your usefulness." He said and the gem made his voice sound like the actual trainer's voices to each Pokémon and they walked over to stand by the Leader.

"_Vaporeon, what's going on?"_

"_He's using some kind of mind control device or something. Yuki, I swear when he speaks I heard your voice. It's hard to fight the urge to listen to him."_

"_Vaporeon, remember our bond. I am not only your trainer and friend, but Vaporeon I love you."_ Yuki admitted as he knelt down and hugged Vaporeon.

"_You do? That's good to know. I love you to Yuki." _They both felt their hearts warm up and their bond felt stronger than it did that morning and soon Vaporeon shook off the effects from the mind control attempt.

"Vaporeon, I command you to come to me." The Leader said and pointed to the ground in front of his feet while Yuki stood up and moved to the front of the crowd with Vaporeon at his side.

"Sorry, but you're not going to be taking all the Pokémon. My Vaporeon knows who her trainer really is and she's standing by my side." Yuki said as he and Vaporeon stared down Team Chaos.

The Leader growled. "So be it brat. Pokémon, use your strongest attack on the trainer that dares to defy us." All the Pokémon charged up their strongest attacks while the Townspeople scurried away. The Pokémon launched their attack at Yuki and he was soon surrounded by smoke but when it cleared, a barrier stood before him.

"_Ready Vaporeon?"_

"_Ready Yuki. Want the honors of leading the way?"_

"_I thought you'd never ask."_ Yuki thought with a smile before he and Vaporeon charged towards the Pokémon and Team Chaos. _"Where did you say you thought the command was coming from?"_

"_I don't know, but the red crystal seems to vibrate a little when he talks."_

"_Okay, hold them off and I'll see if I can pin-point the source."_

"_Will do Yuki. Just don't take too long or I might have them all beat by then."_ Vaporeon charged into the battle and used her speed mainly to avoid being attacked as she tried to get close to the Team Chaos Leader.

In Pallet Town, Professor Oak and Aki looked worried as their Pokémon advanced on them. They couldn't help but to wonder how they were suppose to defend themselves without their Pokémon and how they could fight their own team. "Well Professor, it was nice knowing you."

"Likewise Antero. Though this wasn't the way I have planned to go." Professor Oak said.

They were saved as Jolteon and Flareon leaped over their heads and stood between the humans and the Pokémon. "Listen to us. That person there is not our trainers." Jolteon told the other Pokémon but all Professor Oak and Aki heard was Jolteon speaking its own name.

"We were there when our trainer saved us from our old abusive trainers." Flareon added. "I know he may sound like our trainers, but you must remember that she is our enemy." Flareon and Jolteon waited for a second before looking at each other. They didn't need words to know what the other was thinking and as one, they charged towards the other Pokémon.

"Wait, you'll get hurt doing that." Aki said but Flareon nor Jolteon paid any attention to him. "Professor, is it possible to them to die by doing this?"

"It's very possible Antero." Professor Oak said solemnly. "And based on the way they're fighting, I think they mean to take this to the death."

"But then Yuki would be devastated if that happened." Aki said as he watched the fighting. "Well I'm not going to let my friend's Pokémon die on my watch."

"What do you plan to do?"

"You'll see Professor." Aki said as he grabbed a mop and charged into the battle despite Professor Oak's words to stop.

In Pewter City, Brock fought against the Team Chaos grunts. As per the official Pokémon League rules, he had to rotate his Pokémon with weaker level ones so he didn't defeat every beginning trainer in one attack, thus the Pokémon he had on him turned to Team Chaos' side. This forced to use his Pokémon he used back when he traveled with Ash in order to level the playing field as they knew who their trainer really was but even his Pokémon were starting to get tired from the combined attacks of his newer Pokémon and those that belonged to Team Chaos and he was slowly losing ground to hide behind in order to launch his attack.

Misty and Gary weren't fairing much better. Team Rocket had arrived and they had tried to help but only for any Pokémon that they sent out was turned against them. Jessie and James had Meowth and instead of trying to capture the Pokémon for their boss, they were using their traps and gadgets to recapture their own Pokémon.

"This is insane. Every time we managed to knock one down, three more pop up to take its place." Gary said as he, Misty, Jessie and James stood back to back with Meowth on Jessie's shoulders.

"Got any better ideas to taking them down?" Misty asked.

"How much more hardware do you three have?" Gary asked Team Rocket.

"Not much, we're almost out." James admitted and they still had a lot more Pokémon to reclaim.

"What about the base just south of here?" Meowth asked and Jessie grinned for the first time since this whole thing began.

"There's enough hardware there to make the number smaller there's only one problem right now."

"And that is?" Misty asked.

"That's the route we need to take." She pointed in the right direction, only for the Pokémon to be blocking that path.

"How far away is it from here?" Misty asked as she looked to the gym and Jessie gave her an answer. Misty quickly did some calculations and knew they would have to backtrack a little, but it would be worth it. "Follow me quickly." No one argued as they ran into the gym but they were very confused. "Please don't tell anyone about this." She passed out oxygen tanks to everyone before she went up to the swimming pool and jumped in with the others following her example. As she reached the giant clam, she opened it and revealed there to be a trap door under it. With a breath, she swan in and the others followed.

They swam for some time until they came out of a pool.

"So where are we?" Meowth asked as he looked around with the others.

"We're south of that base you were talking about."

"Great job darling, I knew there was a reason why I wanted to marry you." Gary said and kissed Misty.

"We can celebrate later, let's get going." Jessie said and led the way back up to the Rocket's base.

Meanwhile, Kiiro held her side as she leaned against a wall while she walked and left a red stain behind. She had thought her own Pokémon wouldn't attack her and boy was she wrong. She had tried to make it into the Pokémon tower but collapsed just a few feet from the door while her Pokémon advanced on her. "Please Bulbasaur, it's me, Kiiro." She pleaded as vines wrapped around her neck and was lifted into the air while tears ran down her cheeks. She was on the verge of blacking out when the vines suddenly unwrapped themselves and she hit the ground hard while she took in huge amounts of air to replace the lack of oxygen in her body. Standing between her and her Bulbasaur were the spirits of Rayne and Marowak. The cause of Bulbasaur letting go became apparent as Marowak's bone boomerang came back to her.

"Thank… you…" Kiiro gasped and Rayne turned and nodded her head as if she was saying "you're welcome."

Alan smirked. "This should be good. Two spirits are going to attempt to fight us." He laughed and had the Pokémon switch to element based attacks. "Come and fight if you dare." He taunted and they came forward but what Alan hadn't counted on was the wall of the Pokémon tower coming to life with the spirits of all the Pokémon that had fallen, thinking they were going to get revenge on Team Rocket.

"Crap, pull back! Pull back!" Alan ordered but by then it was too late as the spirits were all over the Team Chaos members.

Sabrina leaned against the wall. She was lucky that Alakazam and Haunter still listened to her but it was taking a toll on her Psychic abilities to keep their mind at bay from the mind control device. She would have been at the gym, but it just happen to be healing her Pokémon when the attack started. She slid down the wall to a house and a girl poked her head out of the door.

"Hi, is it safe to play outside now?" She asked and Sabrina looked up.

"No, stay inside and lock the doors." She said and looked away to make sure she wasn't being followed.

"No, stay inside and lock the doors." Came the reply in her voice and she found herself looking at an identical copy of herself.

"What are you doing?" Sabrina asked

"What are you doing?" Sabrina asked and this time she was joined by an Alakazam. "I'm Copy Cat. I can copy anyone and my Ditto can copy any Pokémon. Do you want to come inside for a while?" Copy Cat asked but Sabrina shook her head.

"No thanks, I don't want to put you in harm's way but I need to rest to recover."

Copy Cat's eyes lit up. "Then you've came to the right place alright. I can make it look like you're still on the run to give you time to recover your energy."

Sabrina was taken aback. "Do you know how dangerous that plan is?"

"Yep, but I also know that you're one of the few people that can save Saffron City." Copy Cat said and Sabrina agreed reluctantly. So Copy Cat took off disguised as Sabrina with her Ditto as Alakazam while Sabrina and her Alakazam hid on the second floor of Copy Cat's house and rested.

In Vermilion City, Lt. Surge could care less that his Pokémon was against him, he wrestled each of them to the ground but even he was forced to retreat into his Gym. He was thankful for the test that kept the door locked and he even moved the switches around several times to buy more time for him to recover. Eventually Team Chaos ripped the trash cans up after finding the ones that were fake which left the real switches and when the last one was activated, the door swung open to reveal Lt. Surge wearing two ammo belts on his body, at least two pistols, a few knives and a couple of high caliper guns one for each hand. He also had a cigar in his mouth. "Bring it on ya losers… IN AMERICA!"

In Fuchsia City, the people there had to be worry about their Pokémon being stolen as well as the Pokémon in the Safari Zone rampaging through their town. Koga appeared just long enough to throw a trip line before using a smoke bomb to escape again. Even still, it was difficult for him to keep up with all the Pokémon and it was taking its toll on his body, even his daughter had to stop a while back in order to recover her strength.

On a lonely island, Blaine stared down the Pokémon that opposed him as he leaned heavily on the cane. With him being the oldest Gym Leader, he had developed strong ties that his Pokémon he used so long ago still obeyed him but he was at a disadvantage with the type as most of the Team Chaos grunts had flying and water type Pokémon. But the battle harden trainer wasn't going to take it sitting down, if he died then he could die knowing that he went out fighting instead of succumbing to old age and passing away in a bed.

Ash walked through a door deep within the Team Rocket base and he saw what he had come for. "Mewtwo. I need your help."

"_What do you need Ash Ketchum?"_ Mewtwo asked as he tried to scan Ash but because of the armor he couldn't.

"It seems that a new faction is invading and I'm to take on the leader but Giovanni thinks the Leader has powerful Pokémon, plus he wants you to teach them a lesson."

"_I will not work for that man."_ Mewtwo said and fell silent.

"He's turning over a new leaf. In fact he said that if you help me, he will turn you over to me to do what I want."

"_Very well. I will help you this time."_ Mewtwo said and Ash punched in a code that would allow Mewtwo to move. Together they exited the room and Ash boldly walked out to face Pixie.

"I am Ash Ketchum, Pokémon Master." Ash said as he faced Pixie. "You will cease your invasion strategy and turn yourself in."

"Or what?"

"Or I will fight you."

Pixie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, we've heard that before. Grunts, get him." She ordered and Ash sent out his Pokémon only to have them put under the mind control.

"Nice try, but Giovanni figured you would do that." Ash said as he snapped his fingers and Mewtwo came into view.

"Ah good, a Legendary Pokémon. I am your trainer, that person there plans to kill you once you outlived your usefulness." Pixie said and was surprised when Mewtwo didn't join her side.

"It's because Mewtwo isn't my Pokémon yet." Ash said with a triumph smile on his face. "But he will listen to me all the same. Mewtwo, use Psychic." Mewtwo held up a paw and he used Psychic but Mewtwo viewed all the Pokémon in front of him as a threat so all the Pokémon were caught in the attack. "Mewtwo, don't target my Pokémon. Only attack the ones that belong to Team Chaos." Ash cried out but Mewtwo didn't seem to hear him. The more Mewtwo attacked the Pokémon, the more Ash found that he only wanted Mewtwo because of his power.

Meanwhile back in Giovanni's office, Giovanni smiled as his plan was working better than he expected. "That's right Pokémon Master, keep calling those attacks, you only make yourself more my slave with everyone." He said and watched the battle.

Back on the battlefield, Ash found that he wanted to make sure that Team Chaos would never try to take over his homeland again. "Mewtwo, kill them." He ordered in a deathly grave voice and Mewtwo used his Psychic powers to strangle Pixie and Team Chaos before finally snapping their necks as well as the Pokémon that belonged to them.


	11. Chapter 11

"_Got it, you were right about that necklace. Get ready to act on the spur of the moment."_ Yuki said as he drew the triple triangle for the Tri-Attack and let it fly towards Vaporeon and the Leader. Then he used Teleport to have Vaporeon appear behind the Tri-Attack and while the Leader managed to block the first attack, he missed Vaporeon as she got the necklace off his neck. With that, Yuki crushed the necklace and the Pokémon stopped attack their trainers.

"You meddling little brat, but no worries, we have other methods. Grunts, attack the town." The Leader commanded and the grunts of Team Chaos did that, which caused the Townspeople to panic and while some stayed out to fight, most ran to either hide or save their belongings.

Team Rocket came out of hiding and that was when things turned for the worst. With most normal Pokémon battles, the attacks would fade before they hit anything for the most part but with Team Rocket and Team Chaos battling so close to the buildings and each other, the attacks didn't have time to fade out. Buildings exploded and caught on fire, innocent people and Pokémon were getting injured.

Yuki could only watch as the destruction and chaos spread and he didn't realize that he was currently being stalked by a Pokémon until it cried out in mid-air. Yuki wheeled around in time to watch that Pokémon get taken down by a Scyther and he looked for the trainer that saved him. A cloaked figure leaped down from a building as it erupted into flames where they stood a second ago and landed nicely on their feet.

"You better start watching your back more carefully otherwise you won't live to see tomorrow." She said as her cat eyes focused on Yuki.

"Thanks I will Tsubasa." Yuki said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm stationed here and the order was given to crush our foes without mercy."

"But why?"

"Because Giovanni doesn't believe in taking prisoners if they decide to try to touch Kanto, yes, that means we're authorize to use any and all means necessary."

"But does that mean you injure Pokémon?"

"Take a look around and you'll find your answer." Tsubasa said as she swept her arm around the destruction.

"But that doesn't mean you can just force Pokémon to hurt others."

Tsubasa slapped Yuki across the face. "Listen, this is the real world. All the battles you've been through have been judged to make sure you Pokémon doesn't get harmed too badly. But in a time like this, there is no judging and a much, much higher risk of Pokémon dying because of it."

Yuki rubbed his cheek where she had slapped him. "So then it's adapt or die? If I don't prepare to take a life then I'm good as dead." He sounded utterly defeated, like he didn't want to believe in such cruelty. "What about just making a Pokémon unable to battle?" he asked hopefully.

Tsubasa sighed, she knew he was a good kid but time changed quite quickly. "There are only two problems with that. There is the fact that by making a Pokémon unable to battle can be considered crueler and that if you don't kill them, then there's the chance the trainers themselves will kill them for failing them." She could practically hear Yuki's heart break but it was the truth.

"I don't think I can do it." Yuki said after a minute. "To take a life, even that of an opposing Pokémon goes against everything I ever stood for."

"Then good luck surviving kid. See you around." Tsubasa said before she ran into the thickest of the battle.

Yuki sighed and looked at his Pokémon. "I don't want to do this but if you have to kill… please… make it quick and painless as possible." He bit his lip and wished he could take those words back but he knew he had no choice if he wanted to keep his promise to Mewtwo. "Let's get going then. The faster we get involved the faster we can get out… hopefully." As a team, he, Vaporeon, Ninetales, Haunter, Onix and Kadabra charged into the battle.

"So, you decided to join me." Tsubasa asked as she saw Yuki join her.

"I'm not joining you; I'm calling a truce with you as Team Rocket until this matter is settled."

"Fair enough. But you don't know what you're missing." Tsubasa said with a certain amount of glee in her voice. "These are some of the better days; you'll soon see what I mean." She said as they watched each other back.

As time went on, Yuki felt a certain sense of joy at watching a Pokémon plead for mercy before it was killed. He would have let them go, but Tsubasa reminded him her words from earlier so he delivered the final blow each time.

"So how goes the battle?" A familiar voice said and it was the same trainer that had left Vaporeon to die. "I see you still recognize me."

Tsubasa held Yuki back and leaned in close to him. "Listen, he will continue to haunt you until he dies. After everything you've been through, you should know what to do." She whispered and smiled at the ex-Rocket, now Chaos Grunt and released Yuki.

Yuki and Vaporeon ran towards the Chaos Grunt and they used their abilities to get close. This time Yuki didn't hold back and received no mercy in returned as they fought the old fashion way with their fist but with Yuki's training, he soon had the Chaos Grunt pinned down by using psychic energy in the form of blades stuck in the Grunt's wrist and ankles and he purposely dug his knee into the Grunt's spine before yanking his hair back. "Guess what bastard? This time you're not going to have the honor of being left for dead, you're going to die right now."

"No, please, have mercy on me! I promise I won't harm another Pokémon for the rest of my life!" The Chaos Grunt screamed and pleaded for his life. "I swear I won't haunt you ever again!" He broke down and sobbed.

"Nope, it's not going to happen." Yuki said. _"Vaporeon, feel free to get your revenge."_

"_Thank you Yuki."_ Vaporeon walked purposely slow and calmly as she approached her old trainer. With a quick movement, she bit the Grunt's throat hard enough to crush it. Vaporeon removed her mouth and spat out some blood while Yuki released the ex-Chaos Grunt and picked up Vaporeon before walking away. _"Yuki, I don't want to ever do that again."_

"_I don't blame you Vaporeon; I wish we didn't get involved with this either."_ Yuki said and used some water from a water bottle to clean away the blood. _"At least we don't have to worry about him ever again."_

"_True and to be honest… I feel more free than I have before."_ Vaporeon said and nuzzled Yuki's chin. _"Would you blame me if I went into the Pokéball?"_

"_Not at all, do you want to go into the Pokéball then?"_

"_Yes, please. I just want to get away from all this fighting."_

"_No worries, I'll release you when it's over."_ Yuki said and ended up recalling all his Pokémon to allow them to rest for a bit away from the destruction. With a sigh, he saw Tsubasa about to be attacked from behind and he instantly threw up a barrier between the Pokémon and Tsubasa. The one second was all she needed as Scyther sliced the Pokémon in half just as he reached her. "I think you need to watch your back better as well."

"Well what happened to my partner?" Tsubasa asked as she leaned against Yuki for support. "We need to find a place to rest."

They rested for as long as they could which didn't seem nearly enough time for them or their Pokémon before they were forced to move once more and neither saw a Dragonite behind them charging up energy. What gave it away was that it said its name out loud just before releasing the energy.

Tsubasa heard something and looked behind them to see the energy beam coming towards them. "Look out." She shouted and pushed Yuki away and the next moment the air was filled with a scream of pain.

Yuki's mind couldn't even register what Tsubasa said before he felt her hands pushing him and he fell due to not having any balance at the sudden move. He turned on the ground and was about to ask Tsubasa why she did that when she saw the energy clam into her. Scrambling to his feet, he followed her by the broken ground that she craved before finding that she had hit a wall and laid in a pile on the ground in front of the cracked wall with a bit of smoke rising from her. He carefully rolled her onto his back and saw the extent of her injuries. "Tsubasa, come on, open your eyes." He pleaded with her and lightly shook her. Tsubasa opened her eyes and tried to say something but coughed violently so with little choice, he picked her up bridle style and carried her to the Pokécenter and was momentarily startled by how many people were here injured and not. He made his way to the front desk but Nurse Joy intercepted him and took him to the trainers' room where just about every cot was filled with someone being injured. "Nurse Joy, what can I do now?"

"You can either stay here or go out and bring the injured back." Nurse Joy responded.

"Can you heal some Pokémon for me then please?"

Nurse Joy sighed and looked around the room. Human and Pokémon alike needed medical attention but based on the reports she had gotten, this attack was happening all over the place. "Yeah, I can heal them quickly." She said after a minute.

"Thanks." Yuki said and handed her three belts, one was his and the other two belonged to Tsubasa. "And Nurse Joy, can you check out what's wrong with my Vaporeon? She's been acting a bit different than usual today, besides the fact that we were forced to kill."

Nurse Joy nodded and left with the belt. She came back roughly ten minutes later and handed Yuki the belts with the Pokéball and all the Pokémon full healed. "Vaporeon seems to be fine but um… have you heard of the birds and the bees by chance?" She asked and Yuki shook his head. Nurse Joy sighed and decided to be frank with him. "Vaporeon is, or will be going, into heat very soon."

"In heat? How can it happen since she's a water Pokémon?" Yuki asked as he never heard of a Pokémon being in heat before.

"You don't have to worry about her catching on fire if that's what you're worried about, but you may find a lot more Pokémon following you for the next few days and most of them will be male." She explained and could tell he still didn't quite get it. "When a Pokémon is… hang on, let's not talk here." She stood up and motioned Yuki to follow her with the promise that Tsubasa would be alright. They entered her private office and she closed the door before taking a seat and having him do the same.

"Is this a secret not to be shared with others?" Yuki asked and Nurse Joy shook her head.

"No, it's just a topic that make some people uncomfortable to hear or talk about." She replied and took a moment to recall where she had been. "Right, When a Pokémon is in heat, that means they are ready for sex."

"And sex is where two people who love each other make out?"

"I thought you said you didn't know about the birds and the bees?"

"I didn't realize that's what it was called. Would it also explain that sweet smell that seemed to be around her?" He asked and Nurse Joy nodded.

"Just be cautious as she will be a prime target for any horny male Pokémons. If you want to be a good trainer in her book during that time, it's important to care for her and let her be. If possible, don't let her fight until she's ready to, which will most likely be after her heat cycle."

"I understand, and thank you Nurse Joy." Yuki said as he stood up. "I'm going to find as many people and Pokémon before they die now." With that, he left the office and made his way out to the streets. _So that's why Vaporeon didn't want to talk about it. She probably didn't want to let me know. But why not?_ He didn't have an answer for that as he walked through the streets to rescue any of the injured.

In Pallet Town, Professor Oak and Aki watched as their Pokémon seemed to come to their senses and the person in charge looked at the Pokémon he no longer controlled.

"Aren't you a bit old to be battling Samuel?" He asked with amusement in his voice.

"I may be old, but I can still pull it off." Professor Oak said with a grin. "Pokémon, power up!" He exclaimed and the Pokémon gave a cheer while Aki watched in amazement since Professor Oak seemed to be younger as he led the Pokémon into battle and together they soon drove Team Chaos out.  
With a small chuckle, Aki rejoined the battle and allowed Jolteon and Flareon to rest but they ignored him so he fought by their side and soon Team Chaos was driven out. Just as they were about to drive Team Chaos for good, Aki suddenly felt a chill go down his spine like he had lost something very dear to him.

In Pewter City, Brock sighed in relief as Onix stopped battling his older Onix as well as noticing that the other Pokémon stopped fighting for a moment. The person in charge felt the necklace break and she gulped since she knew things were going to turn very bad very quickly.

"Pokémon, as the leader of the Pewter City Gym, I wish for you to do your duty and defend your City from Team Chaos." The Pokémon gave a battle cry and forced Team Chaos to retreat but what the people of Pewter City didn't know was that Team Rocket hunted each of them down and killed them.

"I think I can get used to this." Gary said as he piloted a robot and used the cages to trap Team Chaos' Pokémon. "Where do I sign up for one of these bad boys?" He asked.

"Gary, don't you dare join Team Rocket or I will file a divorce faster than you could fill out the paperwork!" Misty shouted into her head set before launching a couple of nets at her targets.

"Relax Mist, I'm not going to." Gary replied.

"Drat, I thought we might be able to get another member." Jessie said as she stood behind a house with James on the other side.

"Yeah, that's just too bad." James agreed.

"Would you two get ready? They're right behind me." Meowth cried out as he ran past Jessie's and James' hiding spot followed by a line of charging Pokémon.

"Now!" Jessie said as she and James fired their Pokémon catching nets only for them completely miss the Pokémon and trap each other.

Misty sighed as she saw the entire thing and pressed a button on a remote which caused a small explosion before a giant hole opened up and the Pokémon fell in while Meowth lay on the ground panting.

Kiiro smiled as she watched Team Chaos being driven out of Lavender Town and she cheered with the Townspeople as well as throwing her fist into the air but the motion caused her great pain and by now, her entire side was covered in blood and knew she didn't have long to live. She released Ivysaur. "I don't have long to live, but I want to say good bye." She said and looked around for a few minutes while her eyes watered up. "I really hadn't thought I would die without growing old and settling down with a guy. But you know what Ivysaur? I'm glad I started my journey and met you. I just wished I could have gotten to see your final form" She finished as her eyes started to cloud over and stroked Ivysaur's cheek and Ivysaur evolved into Venusaur. Kiiro blinked a couple of times and saw her best friend in all the plant glory he could provide.

When Team Chaos invaded, it had driven most people out and while the Channelers could fight, they knew almost next to nothing about healing. Venusaur started to cry as he realized his trainer was dead and he put his head in Kiiro's lap to be with her for the rest of the time.

Sabrina smirked as she levitated above the Pokémon. Copy Cat had given her the chance she needed and now with most of her energy back, she effortlessly stopped the Pokémon from attacking anyone. "Now we'll see how you like having your own Pokémon attack you." She said and had Team Chaos' Pokémon turn on them along with the Pokémon owned by the citizens of Saffron City. She came down with a satisfied look on her face while "Sabrina" ran up to her.

"Did we win?" Copy Cat asked as she removed her Sabrina disguised.

"Yep, I believe we won this. Thank you for your help Copy Cat." Sabrina said as she held out her hand.

"Please, call me Sakura." She said and shook Sabrina's hand. "You're one of the few people that know my true name."

I will cherish that Sakura." Sabrina smile and Sakura glomped her. Normally she would have pushed anyone away, but this time she just wrapped one arm around Sakura's back and used her other hand to pat her head.

In Vermilion City, Lt. Surge had successfully kept the Pokémon at bay by mainly shooting at the ground in front of them but there had been some close calls. He saw his Raichu about to jump him and he aimed his handgun at his own Pokémon. He pulled the trigger but Raichu jumped to the side before leaping towards him and so he fired again only to hear the click of the gun and he tried to reach for the knife he had but Raichu was too quick for him however instead of attacking, Lt. Surge was surprised to find he was being nuzzled by his Raichu. "You're back with me buddy?" He asked and Raichu nodded. "Great to hear that. Let's drive these losers out of our town together." He said and Raichu agreed before they started to go for Team Chaos.

In Fuchsia City, Koga could only watch as the Safari Warden came out with the Pokémon from the Safari zone and was in complete control over them and together they teamed up to drive Team Chaos out of their city.

Blaine smirked as his Pokémon rejoined his side. "This should teach you not to mess with old men." He scolded Team Chaos and began to move forward with his Pokémon while Team Chaos moved backwards until they were forced to stop as they had run out of land. "Show these kids what happens when you pissed elders off." He said and let his Pokémon free since he wasn't worried about what the League would say.

Yuki paused in his battling as he felt a chill go down his spine at the same time Aki did. "What happened?" He asked himself before going about his task despite how tired he was. Even the Pokémon were getting exhausted from battling and so Yuki rotated them the best he could unless he had no choice. It was clear to tell which Pokémon belonged to who because Yuki's Pokémon usually hesitated in killing while Tsubasa's Pokémon just killed straight out if there were any attacks against them. He felt his phone ring and he considered ignoring it for now, but things seemed calm so he answered it. "Yuki here-"

"YUKI! DID YOU FEEL SOMETHING ODD HAPPEN JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO?" Aki shouted forcing Yuki to hold the phone away from his ear.

"Aki, I can hear you just fine without shouting. And I felt a chill go down my spine a few minutes ago." Yuki said and was glad Aki quieted down.

"Same here. I've tried to get a hold of Kiiro for these past few minutes but I haven't had any luck."

"She could just be busy. I'm still walking around Celadon trying to find survivors."

"I don't think she's busy anymore. Yuki, I can't help but to think that she might have died during the fight."

Yuki felt all his remaining energy leave him and he slumped to the ground. "I really hope you're joking about that." Yuki replied as he sighed and put his forehead against his free hand.

"I'm going to fly there tomorrow and make sure. Trust me Yuki, I don't enjoy thinking that she's dead but I can't help but to feel that something bad has happened besides this whole invasion."

"I understand Aki. Call me when you find out for sure." Yuki said and ended the call. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Aki; it was just that he wanted to remain hopeful that Kiiro was still busy with what she was doing. His phone rang again and he saw it was from Nurse Joy so he answered. "Yuki here."

"Yuki, this is Nurse Joy from Celadon, I just wanted to let you know that Tsubasa has opened her eyes."

"Thanks Nurse Joy. I'll be in quickly." Yuki said and forced himself to his feet and hurried as fast as he could to the Pokécenter. He made it there and went to Tsubasa's side and sat down before he started getting grabbed by her.

"My Pokémon, where are they?" Tsubasa asked and would have shaken him if she had the strength to do so.

"Tsubasa, easy, your Pokémon are with me." Yuki said and Tsubasa calmed down.

"That's good to hear." She looked down and felt her chest. "To be honest, I'm surprise that I'm still alive after that. You didn't save me by chance did you?"

"Unless I did it unconsciously, I know I was too shocked to do anything when the Hyper Beam hit you." Yuki admitted and helped her to stand. "You know, this would be a great time to defect from Team Rocket." Yuki whispered as they walked out of the Pokécenter to get away from the rest of the injured.

"I can't." Tsubasa said. "They will look for my body here and will not believe that I'm dead if they don't have proof."

"Then why not go home and recover, if anything, this is the perfect time for that."

"No, I don't want to."

"Tsubasa, quit running away. You have the chance to and you're going to let it slip by. Didn't you say that you wished you could see them?" Yuki asked and caught Tsubasa's hand before it connected with his face. "You're coming home this time." Yuki and teleported them to Cerulean City Gym and was forced to use his psychic powers to keep a struggling Tsubasa from running away as they went towards the living room. "Say hello to your parents." He said loud enough that Gary and Misty turned while Tsubasa froze on the spot.

"Yuki? Tsubasa?" Gary and misty said at the same time.

"Mom… Dad…" Tsubasa swallowed as she never really been able to get to know her parents so she didn't have any idea what to say to them. With a little nudge from Yuki, she soon found herself running into the embrace of her parents.

Yuki shook his head since he wouldn't understand Tsubasa for quite a while yet. While they were having their reunion, Yuki slipped out of there before teleporting to the forest beyond the Nugget Bridge and he made a campfire after setting up the tent and made sure he was going to be comfortable. He released Vaporeon before he started to make some dinner for the two of them. Once he did that, he realized he didn't have an idea as to what he should say to Vaporeon and so he looked into the fire for a while and occasionally looked to the night sky. _"Vaporeon, I thought the two of us might be able to spend the night together."_

"_Just the two of us?"_

"_Just me, you, the fire, the trees and the night sky. I'm sorry I had to put you through that. I shouldn't have done that."  
"It's okay, there's nothing to apologize for and I think I really needed to do that myself to be fully free."_

"_Okay."_

"_Say, what happened after I went back into the Pokéball?"_ Vaporeon asked and Yuki told her the entire thing leaving off from where Vaporeon knew what happened while he made it seem like he was watching Vaporeon squirm every once in a while.

They were quiet while they ate dinner and once they were done, Yuki had an idea of what he wanted to say. _"Vaporeon, I asked Nurse Joy because I was worried about you."_

"_You didn't have to Yuki. I'm alright." _Vaporeon really hoped it wasn't about the part she thought it was.

"_I know you're alright, but I just wanted to make sure and I know why you didn't answer me about my question."_

"_I'm sorry; I was just too embarrassed to say anything in case I disgusted you."_

"_You didn't. It's the first time I've heard about a Pokémon going into heat but I guess it's only natural as you are living beings as well."_

"_So are you going to go tell me to get it out of my system now? Is that why you brought me out here?"_Vaporeon asked as she felt her anger rising at him and blinked in surprise when Yuki picked her up.

"_No, I'm not going to tell you to hump the nearest object or Pokémon. Just hear me out before you get too angry." _Yuki said and started to pet Vaporeon and her anger came down a little. _"You see, in the world of humans, some people don't believe in having sex just to have it. Rather they believe you should have sex with someone because they care about you and you care about them_." He really didn't know where he was going with this but it seemed to fit so he continued._ "For those people, the decision is clear for them since their options are to have sex with a stranger or someone that they care and trust."_

"_What about you Yuki? Are you one of those people?"_

"_Yes. I may be a teenage boy and not very knowledgeable about the actual sex but I have read and looked at enough porn to have made this conclusion: when having sex, especially the first time, it should be with someone you care for and trust with your heart. That is what makes the difference between love and sex so special."_

"_So then what are you getting at?"_

"_Like I said Vaporeon, I'm not going to say go hump the nearest thing to get it out of your system, rather… I wish to help you."_

"_But… but… you were worried about other people hurting me, and what about you for actually having sex with a Pokémon?"_

"_I was… until last night. It might be good that Team Chaos tried to invade as it opened my eyes. It made me realize that if I died without you knowing how I felt I don't think I would ever be able to rest peacefully."_

"_You really are serious about this?"_

"_Yes, I am Vaporeon. I love you with all my heart."_ Yuki smiled before kissing Vaporeon on her mouth. He vaguely sensed other Pokémon glaring at him but he wasn't worried since he had set up a barrier to keep them out. He stood up silently and carried Vaporeon into the tent before setting her down and closing the tent flap.


	12. Chapter 12

Tsubasa tip-toed out of the gym silently so she could escape her parents. She really couldn't blame them since she hadn't seen them in twelve years and briefly wondered where Yuki was. She walked around her hometown and looked to the horizon so see the sun was thinking about coming up and she decided that she wanted a better view of the sunrise so she headed up towards the Nugget Bridge and made her way into the woods.

"If I ever find Yuki, I'm going to kill him for doing that to me." She grumbled before she tripped over a tree root and went down hard. She picked herself up and kicked the tree root which only caused her more pain when she heard sounds coming from not too far from her and went to investigate. She reached the small clearing and wondered if this was a good idea because now the sounds seemed to be moaning and panting more than an animal but curiosity drove her to pull back a leafy branch and her jaw dropped to the forest floor. She felt disgusted but at the same time she also was amazed at the sight she was being treated to and though she never thought about it, she could tell that the act that Yuki and Vaporeon were engaging in was pure love. Without warning, the branch she was leaning against snapped and she fell forward with a crash.

Yuki and Vaporeon froze where they were and focused on Tsubasa, who looked just as embarrassed as they did.

"Sorry. Um, I'll just go wait over here for you two to finish." She said awkwardly and left them behind to clean themselves up.

"Alright Tsubasa, it safe to come over." Yuki said after a few minutes and they were joined by her and to say that breakfast was awkward would have been the understatement of the century.

Yuki cooked breakfast for them and they ate silently until Yuki broke it. "So Tsubasa, what brings you out here so early in the morning?"

"Well, I wanted to get away from my parents. I mean it's nice and all that but I spent most of my life as a Team Rocket member so it's hard to get adjusted to having people jump all over me." Tsubasa admitted and was going to ask why they were out here but the act that she witnessed was pretty obvious. "You don't have to tell me why, I kind of already saw." Her cheeks flamed up once more and Yuki shook his head.

"You saw alright, but you don't understand the reasoning behind it." Yuki said softly.

"_Are you going to tell her?"_

"_Only if you want me to tell her."_

"_I'd rather you didn't, but I also want her to know the reason instead of thinking we're freaks."_

"_Fair enough." _"Tsubasa, we rather that you knew the reasoning instead of you coming to the wrong conclusion."

"Tell me only if you want to." She said trying not to sound too excited or dismissive at the same time.

Yuki sighed and he tried not to blush as he thought of his words but knew he was going to lose that battle the moment he said them. "Vaporeon was in heat and I didn't want her to have to fight off several male Pokémon but she also wanted to stay by my side."

"Oh, I see." Tsubasa was glad they told her since now she would know the facts. "And from what I saw, I'm guessing you two found love last night?"

"How did you know that?"

"You just told me, plus your attitude changed. You always looked at Vaporeon with eyes that showed you like her but now you have nothing but love in your eyes for her."

"You picked up all that just within a couple of days?"

"Of course, I have been trained to pick up on the subtle difference." Tsubasa said before giving them a small smile. "Thank you for telling me, I promise, I don't think you're freaks or anything." She watched as Vaporeon seemed relieved before she jumped into Yuki's lap. "There's three things though."

"What are they?" Yuki asked as he petted Vaporeon.

"One, warn me before you do anything if we travel together. I don't mind if we're like this and you two kiss, but I just want to be warned for anything other than that." She held up her hand to stop Yuki before he could say anything. "Two, I promise I won't use this information to black mail you. I may have been raised by Team Rocket, but there are some people that have honor and I was raised by a couple of them. Three, people still don't take well to human-Pokémon relationships and if you two walk around being lovey-dovey, then chances are someone will discover it and crap will hit the fan. So here's what I propose, I travel with you two and we act the couple. Even though we aren't remotely interest in each other." She finished and motioned to Yuki that he could speak.

"My biggest question is, why would we be traveling together anyway?" Yuki asked.

"You honestly don't expect me to spend the rest of my life in one place do you? I think I might die of boredom if I stay in one place for too long."

"Now, Vaporeon says thank you for your promise not to blackmail us and I should warn you, she gets jealous quite easily." The comment earned him a playful slap of her tail but he didn't mind.

"I'll leave you two to think about what I said, but don't take too long since I'm sure my parents will want to thank you." Tsubasa stood up before walking back to the gym.

"_What are you thinking about?" _Vaporeon asked him.

"_I'm not sure. Tsubasa does have a point with us being seen by others though."_

"_But I rather you didn't even pretend when you were with her."_

"_I know, that's why I said you get jealous very easy."_

"_Plus I'm worried that you'll end up liking her more than me given some time."_

Yuki pulled Vaporeon into his arms and nuzzled her. _"I couldn't do that to you."_ He could tell Vaporeon seemed a bit happier and he put her down to start packing everything up. There was a bright light and when he turned towards the direction of it, he saw a naked girl with a white collar around her neck, her ears, eyes and tail looked just like a Vaporeon but other than that she appeared as a human. She was also just a few inches shorter that Yuki. "Who are you?" He asked as the girl walked over to him. Her dark blue hair stopped a few inches after the shoulders, her "A" cup size breast stood proudly and everywhere else was smooth as her Pokémon body was.

"What's the matter Yuki?" Vaporeon asked and didn't realize she had spoken out loud.

"Um, Vaporeon, you look like a human. Look at your hands."

Vaporeon did so and she felt her face. "How much like a human?"

Yuki told her everything but the ears, tail and her nose were still hers.

"I need to see for myself." She started walking away from the campground and Yuki grabbed her arm.

"Wait, you can't leave like that."

"Why not? I'm just going to find a mirror." She said and followed his finger to where it was pointing. "So? What's the big deal about being naked?"

"You aren't a Pokémon anymore, humans have to wear clothes in public otherwise you can be arrested." Yuki told her. "Plus, do you want anyone other than me to see you like that?"

Vaporeon blushed and quickly dressed in the clothes he had in his bag, the same outfit he wore when he battled Erika. "I think people might find it strange if you were to call me Vaporeon when I'm like this." She said softly as she struggled to get used to the clothing.

"Then I'll call you Ami." Yuki said without missing a beat. "It means rain." He explained and was glomped by Vaporeon in happiness. Together they walked hand-in-hand back to the gym and when they entered, there were three surprised faces looking back at him. "Hi everyone, this is Ami, known before as Vaporeon." He said as she bowed before running up to the room Yuki slept in to take advantage of the mirror to check herself out while Yuki stayed downstairs to answer several questions.

"Um, what exactly happened?" Misty asked and Yuki shook his head.

"I don't know exactly. We spent the night in the woods together, then Tsubasa came and left, then I was packing stuff up and when I turned around, Vaporeon stood before me as a human." He explained. "Any ideas Gary?"

"Afraid I haven't heard anything like this before." He admitted. "Do you happen to remember what the phase of the moon was by chance?"

"I think it was full, but we were a bit occupied last night." Yuki said. "But why would that make a difference?"

"It's mainly because the different phases of the moon can affect the water and Vaporeon is a water type Pokémon but I'll have to check into the research."

"Thanks Gary." Yuki bowed just before his phone started ringing and so he answered it. "Hello?"

"Yuki, get over here soon as possible." Aki said, his voice sounding so void of life that it actually sacred Yuki.

"I'll be over there momentarily." Yuki hung up and put the phone away as he stood up. "I apologize, but Aki needs me in Lavender Town." _"Ami, we got to get going."_

"_Sure, but can you come let me out please? I phased back into my natural form and the door knob is so much harder to get when you don't have hands."_

"_Sure, I'll be up in a second."_ Yuki chuckled as he went up stairs and let Vaporeon out. _"Perhaps I should have Misty install a cat-flap into the door."_

"_Shut up Yuki."_ Vaporeon growled in a mocking tone as they headed downstairs and out the door.

"Hey you two, wait up for me." Tsubasa said as she came out as well. "Can you please let me come with you?"

Yuki released Pidgeot and shook his head. "No, not this time." As he spoke he put Vaporeon onto Pidgeot's back. "We're fearing the worst about a friend of ours. But I promise I'll come back to get you before we resume our journey."

"At least let me have your number."

"Your parents have it." Yuki said as he climbed onto Pidgeot's back and they took off into the sky. _Please be alright Kiiro_. He thought to himself.

Yuki hopped off the moment Pidgeot landed and Vaporeon hopped onto Yuki's shoulders before he recalled Pidgeot. Without any other clue as to where to find his friends, he made his way to the old couple's house and found Aki looking dead to the world. "Aki, what happened?" Yuki said but even as he spoke those words, he realized that the news wouldn't be good.

"Kiiro died Yuki." Aki said with a hollow tone. "I'll take you to see her." He stood up and led the way back to Pokémon Tower and Yuki fell into a step or two behind him. "She died of blood lost. Most of the people fled when Team Chaos came in and the Channelers aren't that good with medicine. They tried to save her but because of the confusion; it wasn't realized until after it was too late that she needed help." They climbed the stairs in silence and soon reached her grave, which had been put besides Rayne's grave stone.

Yuki fell to his knees as he looked at the cold marble that stood before him. He had hoped everything had been a really bad joke, but now he realized the truth. "I'm sorry Kiiro. I wished that you were still here with us."

"Thank you for your concern." Kiiro's said before she appeared as a spirit before them. "You know something, this does feel kind of nice. I mean it doesn't compare to living but at least now I can watch over the Pokémon here."

"Kiiro?" Aki gasped and reached out to touch her, only to have his hand pass through her. "What happened to you that day?" He hadn't seen Kiiro's body since the townspeople had buried her before he had gotten there.

"I was busy battling a Persian when an Arbok came up from behind me and bit my side. I think I made it worst by trying to get away from Arbok at that moment. Thankfully Ivysaur pulled Arbok away but the damage had been done."

"Did you have trouble with Team Chaos stealing your Pokémon as well?" Yuki asked after a moment.

"Only Venusaur stayed by my side until my Pokémon seemed to realize they were fighting me and they quickly turned on Team Chaos." Kiiro lied as she sat down on her grave stone.

"But even then, no offense to the Pokémon you had, but I don't think they'd be able to fight off all of Team Chaos." Aki reasoned.

"You're absolutely right. I was helped by the spirits of the fallen Pokémon that reside in the tower and you won't believe who led the charge."

"Would it happen to be Rayne by chance?" Yuki asked and Kiiro nearly fell over.

"How did you know?" She asked, completely flabbergast.

"Because I can see her over there." Yuki said as he pointed to where Rayne was sitting before she got up and walked over to them.

"Oh, right. But yeah, you should have seen the way she defended me. I tell you, it was really awesome to see the spirits of the Pokémon working together. There was even a Raticate that helped to defend me as well."

"But what are you going to do now?" Yuki asked softly as Rayne sat besides Kiiro.

"I'll stay here and continue to watch over these Pokémon and who knows; maybe I'll pass into the great beyond peacefully one day." Kiiro giggled as he petted Rayne. "What about you two?"

"I'm going to keep traveling and meet many new Pokémon." Yuki said. "Then I can come back here and show them to you."

"I'm not sure what I want to do anymore." Aki said as he looked at the ground. "I mean I want to keep traveling, but it just wouldn't be the same knowing you won't be by my… our side anymore."

Kiiro shook her head and got up before walking over to kiss Aki. "Silly, do you intend to forget about me so soon?" She asked and Aki shook his head. "Then I may not be by your side in the physical sense, but I'll be here with you." She touched his chest and because she was a ghost, her hand slid into his body and touched his heart.

Aki thought having a ghost go through you would be cold, but he could feel nothing but warmth from Kiiro's hand. "I get that much, but it still won't feel fully right." This time he put his hand onto hers when she withdrew it from his chest.

"But if you two wouldn't mind doing me two favors, I'll be happy."

"Sure, what are they?" Aki asked quickly before Yuki had a chance to say anything.

"I want you to split up the Pokémon I caught between you two and the other favor; I would like to watch one more Pokémon battle between the two of you."

Yuki smiled. "I think we can do that. I mean after all, it doesn't seem like it would be that hard to do." He teased Aki.

"Yeah, because both of those favors are so hard to do." Aki agreed as they walked to separate ends of the room. "I'm about to kick your butt Yuki." He boasted as he sent out Dratini.

"I'm sure you'd like to Aki. Bring it if you're man enough." Yuki replied in kind as he sent out Rapidash at the same time.


	13. Chapter 13

Pixie sighed as she leaned back into a chair that she had claim was hers since she was the only one around. Not once did she expect the Pokémon Master to have such a powerful Pokémon but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed that it would make sense. She sipped at her tea and took a moment to enjoy the hot liquid running down her throat and closed her eyes in bliss until she heard something rustling. Jumping up from her chair, she had her hand on a Pokéball and waited. "Guess I really am paranoid." She chuckled to herself and sat down.

"No, you were correct that you heard something." Alan said as he supported Wolf. "He fell and I had to pick him up." Since Wolf was fairly light, Alan didn't seem to have much trouble holding him up but he soon put Wolf into a chair and sat down in another as well.

"Are we the only three?" Wolf asked after a moment.

"So far, no one else seems to be responding at the moment." Pixie supplied.

"Either that or they're waiting to make sure the coast was clear before coming out from hiding." Alan said with a nod of his head. "I had several Rockets chasing me and only by pretending I died did I escape."

"So then we have to assume we're the only three left until we hear from someone else." Wolf said and it seemed to finalize the words. "And what do we do for Pokémon? We can't very well go getting revenge barehanded."

"That and it would take a long time before we could produce a better mind control device." Alan said as he looked at the shattered necklace that had given him the edge.

Pixie didn't say anything until she finished the tea and set the mug down. "Don't worry; we won't have to worry about brainwashing Pokémon this time. I already have a plan forming." She smirked and looked at her two most trusted advisors. "For the Pokémon, we'll use the ones from my personal stock."

"Yeah, that's great and all, but what about our revenge?" Wolf growled.

"We're going to take control of the Pokémon league itself." Pixie commented off-handed as if she was commenting on the weather while the guys actually fell out of their seats.

"WE'RE WHAT?" "YOU'RE KIDDING?" They shouted at the same time and Alan was the first to calm down.

"Just what good would that do for us?"

"Why not make Pokémon battling illegal? That way, if anyone fights back we can throw them into jail."

"And what about the Elite Four and Lance? They won't take that sitting down?"

"That's why I'm going to challenge the Pokémon Master. I'll make the condition that if I win, then he'll turn it over to me."

"And how in the world do you plan to get him to accept the challenge?"

Pixie smirked. "That's just the part that we need to figure out now isn't it?"

Tsubasa ran to the power station. She could have sworn she saw Zapdos flying in that direction and would be damned if she let someone else take her favorite legendary bird.

She wasn't fully sure if she should defect from Team Rocket since several of her friends… well, all of them were in the organization but she also knew this way she could be free from under Giovanni and it felt refreshing for a change. What she did know was that she wasn't going to return any of the Pokémon that she owned from back then and she currently was switching out the Pokéballs with Pokémon that would be best suited for a battle against an Electric/Flying type.

When she got there, she noticed that several electricians were running in fear as Zapdos fed on the electricity and once she was sure everyone was gone, she picked up a small plastic ball and threw it at the bird Pokémon. She got its attention alright but by the time Zapdos got around to coming towards her, she had already fired a Pokémon net and watched as it pinned Zapdos down.

The net helped to do two things; it cut off the arcing electricity so she didn't get fried and it pulsed green, it signifying that it was draining Zapdos' life and power away but to be on the safe side, she also summoned Muk, Gyarados, and Dragonair for defense.

Just as she was getting ready to yawn, Zapdos broke free from the net and charged towards Tsubasa, who simply smiled and told her Pokémon to attack Zapdos. _This is child's play._ She thought to herself as her smile became a smirk.

Kiiro jumped up and cheered. She would have hugged Aki but she figured she would just pass through him so she settled for blowing him a kiss. She offered them the chance to stay with her in the tower but guys declined politely before they left.

"Yuki. You threw that last battle on purpose right?" Aki asked once they were out of the tower.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Yuki replied.

"Yeah right. That was way too easy." Aki said as he looked back at the tower.

"Or maybe it just seemed easy because of the hard time we just went through." Was Yuki's only reply as he summoned Pidgeot and once Aki summoned Charizard, they took to the sky.

"So where are we going now?" Aki asked after they were in the air.

"I was heading to Cerulean City to pick up Tsubasa, then head to Celadon in order to get to Fuchsia City."

"So we're picking up another girl already?" Aki asked sounding very bitter.

"She's not replacing Kiiro, I promise that Aki." Yuki replied. "Tsubasa just doesn't think she can settled down after her life with Team Rocket. She- CRAP! MOVE!" He veered Pidgeot to the right while Aki took Charizard sharply to the left just in time to avoid a lightning bolt passing them where they had been. _If that had hit, Pidgeot would have been fried._ He thought and looked up. "A Zapdos. Pidgeot, don't let the lightning hit you okay?" He asked as he pulled out his Pokédex and gathered Zapdos' data.

"Zapdos. A legendary bird Pokémon that is said to appear from clouds while dropping enormous lightning bolts." The Pokédex said.

"Yeah, thanks for that already known information." Yuki growled before returning his attention back to the Zapdos. "Pidgeot, be careful but we have to get higher than Zapdos if we want to stand a chance." But as it turned out, they didn't need to as Zapdos lowered to their level with a laughing Tsubasa on his back.  
"Oh my God, you guys should have seen the look on your faces." She somehow said between burst of laughs.

"Did you really catch Zapdos Tsubasa?" Yuki asked.

"I didn't steal him if that's what you're implying." Tsubasa replied honestly. "I caught him fair-and-square… for the most part."

"For the most part?" Aki asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I did have help from a net that drained some of his powers in the beginning, but I swear the rest was due to my top-notched skills." Tsubasa said just as her phone rang. "Hi dad… no, I'm fine… I just have a surprise for you… okay, they're up here with me now so I'll tell them… yep, see you in a few minutes dad. Bye." She hung up and made sure the call had ended. "Dad has a gift for the two of you so I hope you were planning on going back home."

"I was actually coming to get you but I guess we might as well keep on going since you'll need some more clothes if you're going to travel with us." Yuki said as they soon reached Cerulean City.

Gary and Misty couldn't help but to be surprised when their daughter came down riding a Zapdos. "That's what you were doing?" Gary asked as he started walking around Zapdos, his mind already wanting to study it but he held himself back because he knew that if he didn't, Misty surely would.

"Yep. I caught him alright." Tsubasa said proudly as she patted Zapdos' beak before recalling him while Yuki summoned Vaporeon and after recalling their flying Pokémon, they went into the gym where Misty had a giant meal of spaghetti ready for them. They enjoyed each other's company and even swan in the gym's pool, even Aki got into things but soon turned in quickly.

"Ash, there's a letter for you." Lance said as he handed Ash a letter that didn't have a return address on it.

"Thanks Lance, but you know you don't have to go through the trouble of delivering my mail to me." Ash replied as he put it into his shirt pocket.

"I know, but this letter came after the daily mail, that's why I thought I'd deliver it." Lance said before he started to walk away. "Take it easy alright."

"I will, and the same goes for you." Ash replied as he walked to his room and cleared a spot on his desk before opening the letter. "So, she wants a rematch does she?" He put the letter back into his shirt pocket and picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Giovanni, I want to be able to use Mewtwo in a rematch against my opponent from Team Chaos…. What do you mean no? Remember that I… Hello? Hello?" Ash shouted into the phone a couple of times before slamming it down in anger. He vented his anger by flipping his desk over and the resulting crash woke Pikachu up. "Sorry buddy, go back to sleep okay?" He said before putting his desk back and started to gather the papers that had scattered about.

Seconds later, the phone rang again and he picked it up. "Hello?... I see. Well then I guess I'll have to take care of her then." He hung up and gently picked up Pikachu before walking out of his room.

Yuki adjusted the straps on his backpack on last time and made sure his Pokéballs were attached to his belt with his current team except for Vaporeon, who stood beside him. Aki doubled checked his supplies while Tsubasa was being crushed in a bear hug by Misty.

"I just wish you didn't have to leave so soon after coming home." Misty said and then released Tsubasa.

"I know Mom, but I just don't think I can settle down that quickly." Tsubasa said as she held her mother's hands. "But I promise that I'll call and come home more often."

"You do that." Misty said as Gary came out with a silver box. "Yuki, Aki. I made these for you two." He said and once they were together, he opened up the box to reveal three silver watches. "These are Poké-watches. They act like a mini PC."

"Sweet, thanks Gary." Yuki said as he put them on.

"Yeah, you're the best." Aki added as he put his on as well.

"Just be warned, these are only the prototypes right now so be careful with them." Gary said as Tsubasa walked up.

"Bu there's one more in there."

"Yeah, it was suppose to be for Kiiro, but she's no longer with us." Gary explained.

"Tsubasa, you might as well take it, I think Kiiro would have wanted to see it get used instead of simply collecting dust on a shelf." Yuki told her and Tsubasa took the final Poké-watch.

They were just about to start leaving when a certain somebody dropped from the sky and slowly stood up. "Tsubasa Oak. You are hereby arrested for acting on Team Rocket's orders. You have the choice to come quietly or I will make you come by force if necessary."

"Like hell I will be." Tsubasa as she stood her ground.

"Then I will force you to come." He said.

"Ash? What's the meaning of this?" Misty asked her best friend. "I know you are the Pokémon Master and all, but do you really have to do this?"

"Stay out of this Misty. I could arrest all of you for harboring a fugitive but if you just keep your mouth shut, then I'll over look it." He said before Yuki and Aki stood between Tsubasa and Ash. "If you two continue to protect her I'll arrest you as well."

"Ash, stop being an idiot and just listen to her story." Gary said with irritation in his voice. "Then maybe you'll reconsider."

Things were silent for a couple of minute until Tsubasa broke the silence, surprising everyone else. "Giovanni sent you didn't he?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I am here because of evidence founded by the Pokémon League."

"Bullcrap Ash. I've been with Team Rocket long enough to know how to cover up my tracks. And don't you dare think I don't know about your conversations with Giovanni." Tsubasa smirked as she pulled out a tape recorder and for once, Ash looked a bit worried. "Shall I play it? Or are you going to be man enough to admit it?"

"Even if you do have a recording of my voice, do you think the Elite Four will believe an ex-Team Rocket member or the Pokémon Master?"

"I think I'll let the evidence speak for itself." Tsubasa said before she pushed the play button.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock on that device." Ash said and Pikachu shot out a spark of lightning and fried the inner workings of it. "There, now you can't sprea-" He broke off when he heard his own voice talking to Giovanni back when they had been discussing Ash's potential as the next leader.

"So why were so in such a hurry to destroy any evidence?" Tsubasa said with a smile as she pulled another recorder from behind her back.

"Ash, how could you do that?" Misty asked as she looked from her daughter to her friend.

"I thought I would take out Team Rocket from the inside." Ash began but quickly got cut off by Tsubasa.

"But the longer you stay in there, the more the power draws you in isn't it?" Tsubasa said and Ash found himself agreeing without meaning too.

"Ash, why did you think about doing that without telling anyone?" Gary asked.

"It doesn't matter why. Just give Tsubasa to me because I'm sure Giovanni wants to have a word with her." Ash said and held out his hand.

"Yuki, Aki, Tsubasa, go and get out of here. We're going to hold him back." Gary declared and sent out Blastoise and Arcanine.

"But I want to stay and kick his ass with you guys." Tsubasa said but Misty put her hands onto Tsubasa's shoulders and pushed her towards Yuki and Aki before she called out Starmie and Psyduck.

"Well, if that's the way it's going to be. Pikachu, you're on." Ash said and he sent out Tauros, Bulbasaur and Charizard as well.

"Come on Tsubasa, get on unless you want to meet up with Giovanni again." Aki said as he pushed Tsubasa to release Zapdos for her while he released his Charizard and Yuki summoned Pidgeot before they took to the skies in order to get away.

"I promise I'll beat him one day." Tsubasa vowed. "Think they'll be alright?" She asked after a couple of minutes.

"Your parents? Yeah I'm sure they'll be fine. After all, Misty knows Ash quite well and Gary always bragged how much better then Ash he was." Yuki said thoughtfully. "Plus they may not hold back on him if he's in league with Team Rocket." On the inside he really hoped nothing would happen to Misty or Gary.

"I'm sure they'll do just fine Tsubasa. If anything, we probably should call Brock and let him know." Aki suggested as he looked over at Yuki.

"It probably wouldn't be a bad idea." Yuki said after a second of thought and he dialed Brock's number only to get a busy tone. "Can't get a hold of him. It makes me glad that Ash didn't get there last night. Tsubasa, any reason why Ash might want to kid-nap you, other than to take you back to Giovanni?"

"That would be if I was unlucky." Tsubasa said after giving it some thought. "If I was lucky, Ash would have carried out Giovanni's orders to kill me instead." That was a sobering thought for the guys.

"Say, do you think we should delay moving onto Fuchsia City for a day or two?" Aki asked before he did a barrel role for no reason other than to try it.

"No, we don't know fully when Ash might come for us so we should keep moving." Yuki replied.

"But I don't think we should consider winning the badges until this blows over because then they can follow our path and try to intercept us."

"True, but it would be better to keep moving so they don't take us by surprise." Tsubasa sided with Yuki on this.

"And while we're moving, we might as well collect the badges so for when this thing blows over, we can just keep on moving along." Yuki sighed. "Although when the invasion of Team Chaos happened, I had to team up with Team Rocket to help fight them off. Aren't you a bit worried that someone will recognize you and try to get on Giovanni's good side?"

Tsubasa shook her head. "Nope." Was all she said and gave Yuki a smile. He tried to get Tsubasa to talk how she planned to do it but she just wouldn't tell him so he soon gave up.


	14. Chapter 14

"You know I can easily arrest you for this right?" Ash said with a smirk as he and his Pokémon stared down Misty, Gary, and their Pokémon.

"But why would you want to Ash?" Misty asked. "What happened to that kind heated kid that I fished out of the river, the one that tried so hard to save Pikachu's life?"

Ash looked away; he just couldn't bear to face Pikachu or his old friends. Despite it all, Pikachu stuck by his side the entire time. "People grow up Misty. Things change."

"That bullcrap Ash! People do change, but I never thought you'd be the one to change into something worst than you were already." Misty growled as she watched Ash walk over to Pikachu and remove a small necklace.

"Pikachu, you've heard everything. I won't blame you for not wanting to stay with me anymore." Ash said sadly. Pikachu was confused and looked between Ash and Misty. Though they never promised in actual words, their bond was too strong to easily break but with this… Pikachu really didn't know what to do. With a sigh, he walked back over to Ash and tugged on his pants leg. "You're really going to stay with me Pikachu?" Ash asked and watched as his best bud nodded.

"Ash, why don't you forget about this whole thing and regain your title as the Pokémon Master. No one has to know about this." Gary suggested. "I mean, we won't be able to forgive you that easily but at least you can keep this hidden from the rest of the world."

Ash shook his head. "You don't understand, I have to do this. Not only to take down Team Rocket but to save Mewtwo once more."

"You aren't going to take Team Rocket down by digging yourself deeper into their ways." A new voice spoke and it was one that they recognized easily.

"Brock? How long have you been listening?" Misty asked and now Ash faced away from Brock as well.

"I heard everything." Brock told them and silence fell on them for a few minutes until Ash got a phone call.

"Hello… yes, the traitor ran but she didn't go far… I'm glad to serve you Giovanni." Ash said and closed the phone and turned to face his old friends when he was slapped by Misty, punched in the gut by Brock and kicked in the balls by Gary at the same time. The combined attack caused him to hit the ground hard and he wheezed while the other three stood over him and ready to kill.

"What. Happened. Exactly?" Misty growled as she saw red.

"Tsubasa died." Ash replied solemnly.

Yuki was starting to get a little worried since both Tsubasa and Aki were being quiet. Without warning, Zapdos unleashed a severe electric attack to discharge the lightning from its body while Yuki and Aki veered off to avoid getting fried. Meanwhile Tsubasa screamed in pain before she slipped off Zapdos' back and pummeled to the earth.

"Pidgeot, dive!" Yuki commanded and crouched low to make sure Vaporeon didn't fall off in the steep dive that Pidgeot had taken. As more element based attacks, he was soon forced to pull away and could only watch as Tsubasa hit the ground with a sickening thud that he could hear in the air. "Pidgeot, we're not going to get any closer. We'll find Tsubasa later." He said as Pidgeot resumed flying to Celadon City with Aki.

"Please guys, give me a chance to explain." Ash pleaded from his spot on the floor, his body bound by a rope to the bleachers. But his plead fell on deaf ears. Misty was sobbing in her room and Gary was trying to comfort her while Brock stood guard over Ash. "I only did it to make sure it seemed like I was still following Giovanni's orders."

"Ash, shut it. Can't you see you've caused more harm by doing this?" Brock stated, clearly still upset with Ash. A few minutes of silence passed before Brock sighed. "Listen Ash, tact has never really been one of your strong points. If you wanted to make sure it was still "acting" on Giovanni's orders, then you could have at least thought of a different way to handle it. Can you even begin to imagine the pain that Misty and Gary have went through or did the title of Pokémon Champion go to your head?"

"How dare you say that like I didn't care about you guys at all?" Ash growled darkly as he attempted to stand up but the rope held him down.

"Then what about all the times we called you and that you never returned any of our calls? Do you know how many times Misty called me and asked me if she was making the right decision about whether to marry Gary or not? Or do you know how many times Gary came to me for extra support since he wasn't sure if he could continue being strong for Misty?" Brock nearly shouted, but he had always been the one to keep his head and the years of experiences paid off now. He half expected Ash to fight back and wasn't surprised when he did, but he was surprised at the tone.

"What do you mean Misty asked if she should marry Gary or not?" Ash asked his voice barely above a whisper as he looked at the ground. He knew right then that his words only strengthened Brock's argument but he didn't care at the moment.

"Because I thought we would end up together Ash." Misty said softly and sadly as she closed the door behind her. "Ash, I know we had a rough start in the beginning ever since I fished you out of the river but things soon mended between us and not long after that, Brock joined us." A couple of silent tears fell down her cheeks and she brushed them away, determined not to cry over this anymore. "Then, after all the crap we went through, you never once noticed that I wanted to become closer to you than just friends. Do you remember that comment I made back when Brock found a girl that loved him back?"

"Yeah. You said that one day we'd get married as well." Ash said as he recalled those words and his reaction to it.

"I know I said it more off-hand than anything but that was when my feelings started to shine through." Misty paused and took a breath. "Or what about that song that I composed, just for you? Did you once ever think about the meaning of those lyrics, specifically "I wanna tell you what I'm feeling, and to say that, I love you?" Or did you think they were just words that meant nothing?"

"But I thought you just composed that song for no reason."

"No you dork; I composed that song just for you in an attempt to tell you my feelings." As the conversation between Misty and Ash continued, Brock wondered if he should step out, but then he figured she stood a better chance at trying to murder Ash if he wasn't in the room so he stayed. "But never once did I complain about you since I knew how much your goal meant to you."

"Then if you felt that way for me, then why didn't you just come out and tell me instead of writing a song?" Ash said and looked her in the eye.

"Because every time I tried to, either something happened or you wouldn't listen to me."

"Then what about before we departed in the end?" Ash asked and Brock had to stop Misty from slapping him.

"Because the timing wasn't appropriate. But perhaps I should have so you would know exactly what you were leaving behind." Misty lowered her hand. "Ash, do you know that I waited for you for so long? The first time Gary proposed to me I told him I had to think about it but after not hearing anything from you for that long, I accepted his proposal and while I don't regret it, I almost wish sometimes that things were different." She paused and fingered her wedding ring for a couple of minutes. "Then you come back into my life again without warning and demand that the daughter that I had just found after searching for her for so long was to be arrested by my best friend. Do you have any idea how many emotions went through me at that moment?"

"No, I'm sorry Misty" Ash said still soft and Misty snorted.

"Sorry isn't going to cut it this time Ash, in fact I think it would be better if we don't ever see each other again. Brock, let him go, he's not welcomed here anymore." She told him before heading for the door. When her hand was on the door knob, she stopped. "And Ash, if I hear that Tsubasa has been arrested or killed for real, then so help me because I will hunt you down." She said venomously before walking out of the room.

"Brock, is there anything that I can do to make this better?" Ash asked after a moment of silence, having never thought Misty was capable of changing her voice that far.

"Right now, just stay away from Misty and don't make any moves to arrest Tsubasa." Brock said as he untied the ropes from Ash. "Otherwise Gary and I won't be able to stop her." Brock finished and stepped back, allowing Ash to walk away.

"You know that was quite risky right?" Yuki asked as he looked over at Tsubasa, who was riding behind Aki.

"Yeah, but it was worth it." Tsubasa smiled. "Plus this way Giovanni will think I'm dead."

"But what about your parents? If Team Rocket saw you "die" and fall, they probably would have told Giovanni, who in turn probably would have told Ash to congratulate him." Aki pointed out and Tsubasa took in a sharp breath.

"Crap, I hadn't thought of that." Tsubasa was about to call her parents but Yuki stopped her.

"Wait, I should call them in case Ash is still around." Yuki said and Aki agreed before Yuki called Gary. "Gary, yeah it's Yuki. I just wanted to say that Tsubasa has grown her wings and flew beautifully." He hung up and knew Gary would figure out his meaning… or at least he hoped.

"Let's just rest in Celadon for the day before we continue." Aki suggested so they did so.

Gary held the receiver in his hands with a puzzled look on his face. "Tsubasa grew her wings and flew beautifully?" He muttered to himself and thought about what it could possible mean. _Her name means wing, and there's only two times when you supposedly grow wings and fly… one being where you die and become and angel, otherwise it means that she didn't die. But Yuki wouldn't be that excited over Tsubasa dying…_ A few seconds later and it hit him. "MISTY!" Gary shouted as he ran to find her and they met halfway. "Good news, is Ash around?"

"Nope, I told him to leave and not show his face around here." Misty said. "Now what's the good news?"

"Tsubasa isn't dead."

"Don't joke like that Gary." Misty warned.

"No seriously, I just spoke to Yuki. He wanted me to know that Tsubasa grew her wings and flew beautifully. What are two common reasons for that?"

"One when people died, and the other when they having a flying Pokémon."

"And what's the point about sounding happy if a friend died and you didn't want them to?" Gary practically could see the realization setting on Misty. He was almost pushed to the side as Misty ran to find her phone. As the phone rang, he hugged her before taking her phone and putting it on speaker phone.

"Bet that's your parents Tsubasa." Aki said as he felt something vibrating behind him, at least, that's what he hoped it was.

"Hello?" Tsubasa answered cutely and innocently. "Hi Mom, hi Dad, what's up?... Oh, about that? Is Ash still around?... He isn't? That's good." She gave Yuki and Aki a thumbs up as she listened to her parents. "That's great to hear. Love you two very much." She hung up and did a little dance the best she could while keeping her balance on Charizard.

"What's up?" Yuki asked as they set down outside of the Pokémon center.

"Ash hasn't been forgiven and mother told him not to show his face around her for a long time." Her smiled widened as they entered the Pokécenter. "And well, because he believes me to be dead, he's not going to be hunting me down." She gave Aki a high five while Yuki paid for a room for them.

"Glad to hear that. Now we don't have to worry about running around in secret." Yuki said as they piled into the room, both Aki and Tsubasa starting a mock battle over who gets the bed near the window while Yuki just picked the bed closest to the door and sat down before Vaporeon hopped up into his lap.

"_This is pretty amusing."_ Vaporeon said while Yuki scratched her head.

"Yeah, I agree." Yuki replied and eventually Aki won that bed so Tsubasa took the one that was basically in the middle.

"I'm here! Now show yourselves." Ash called out to the empty room and a woman appeared from the shadows of the bleachers.

"It's about time you showed up Pokémon Master. I figured you were too frightened to have a rematch against me without your precious Mewtwo." Pixie said as she came into the light.

"I had business with the Pokémon League." Ash replied coldly and while it was a part of the truth, he figured that she didn't know the exact reasoning. "Let's get this over with and when I win, then you will turn yourself in."

"That would be if you win sweetie." Pixie replied in kind. "But remember, if I win, then you hand over the title of Pokémon Master to me."

"In your dreams." Ash set his face and the battle began.

"Pikachu, come on buddy, get up." Ash pleaded his Pikachu and was happy when Pikachu managed to get back to his feet but even Ash could see how tired Pikachu was getting. He knew that he couldn't switch out any of his Pokémon since Pikachu was his last Pokémon but the Rhydon was practically immune to all the electric attacks and the physical attacks would only end up hurting Pikachu in the long run. _If only Giovanni let me have Mewtwo, I would have mopped the floor with her._

"I think I win sweetie. Now Rhydon, mega punch attack!" Pixie called out and Rhydon's punch sent Pikachu flying through the air until he crashed into the wall and slid down.

"Pikachu! No!" Ash shouted as he ran over to his pal's side and picked Pikachu up. "Pikachu, please open your eyes." Ash said and waited a couple of seconds for Pikachu to open his eyes. To Ash's relief, Pikachu opened his eyes just a little before closing them again.

"Thank you for the transferring of title to me sweetie." Pixie laughed as she left the arena while Ash slowly walked to the Pokécenter within the place.

While Ash's Pokémon were being healed, he reflected on the battle and everything that had happen that day. _I will take control from Giovanni and when I do, I will reclaim my rightful title._ Ash laughed darkly and began to make his plan.

Yuki had taken the chance to catch Snorlax that had been blocking the route to the cycling road and all three had a lovely time riding down the hill.

"Hey guys, perhaps we should have a Pokémon battle as we go down the hill. Or maybe play a card game." Aki suggested.

"Aki, that's just stupid. Whoever plays a card game on bicycles?" Tsubasa retorted, effectively shooting that plan down.

"Yeah you're right. Card game on bicycles just suck big time." Aki agreed and they reached the bottom of the hill. They dismounted from the bikes and heard someone's whistle blow.

"You kid, get back on your bikes right now or pay a large fine." The guard said as he rode towards them.

"But we're at the bottom of the hill, why can't we just walk our bikes the rest of the way?" Tsubasa asked, not believing her ears that they couldn't dismount until they were off completely.

"That is the rule. Either abide by it or you will regret it."

"Okay, we're getting back on our bikes." Yuki said and they got back on their bikes and once the guard was satisfied, he took off for another group had done the same thing. "Asshole." He grumbled and the other two laughed. Without much more trouble, save for a couple of Pokémon battles, they reached Fuchsia City and healed their Pokémon and reserved a room before heading out to see the town.

They had purposely saved the Safari Zone for last so they could spend it to their hearts content until the sun set. And they all ended up with a good haul of Pokémon.

"Yuki, that reminds me, what are we going to do with Kiiro's Pokémon? After all she said that she wanted us to make that choice?" Aki asked as they headed back for the Pokécenter.

"Why don't we each take one of her Pokémon to remember her by, then we let the rest go back into the wild?" Yuki suggested. "Believe me; I've been thinking about that myself today."

"Alright, I can live with that." Aki decided. "I guess a call to Professor Oak is in order?"

"Yep. Tsubasa, feel free to wait for us in the room." Yuki said as they entered the Pokécenter.

"It's okay, I don't mind waiting. Plus it would be nice to meet my grandfather." Tsubasa said and both guys face palmed themselves for not thinking about that.

Yuki dialed the number to Professor Oak's lab. "Hello Professor, how are you doing?"

Professor Oak picked up the phone and saw Yuki, Aki, and a girl that he didn't quite recognize. "Pretty good. Just finished my dinner not too long ago. How are you two doing?"

"Great Professor. We got to Fuchsia City today and we spent it at the Safari Zone for most of the afternoon." Aki spoke up.

"Wow, you two sure have come far since you left alright." Professor Oak replied and shook his head, hardly believing how far they were.

"Professor, we have two things to talk to you about." Yuki started. "The first is about Kiiro's Pokémon. What normally happens to a person's Pokémon if they pass away?"

"Normally we just release them back into the wild unless someone makes a specific request."

Yuki and Aki exchanged grins. "Well, um, we decided that we would like to each have a Pokémon to remember her and we were planning on releasing the rest back into the wild."

"That's great. If you'd like, I can send a list to you tomorrow and you can make your mind then."

"That would be great Professor." Yuki said and bowed his head. "With that taken care of, it brings us to the next matter at hand; we have someone that really wants to meet you." Yuki motioned to Tsubasa. "This is Tsubasa, a friend of ours that decided to travel with us."

"Nice to meet you Tsubasa." Professor Oak held his hand up and waved.

"It's good to meet you finally Grandpa." Tsubasa said cheerfully and the trio watched as Professor Oak fell out of his chair.

"What? I could have sworn I heard Grandpa."

"You did Grandpa. I'm Tsubasa Oak."

"Well, it's nice to see you. Gary said that he and Misty found you but they didn't go into much detail about what you looked like." Professor Oak said as Yuki allowed Tsubasa to take the center seat. They got to talking so Yuki and Aki left Tsubasa alone with her grandfather while they went up to their room.

"Seems like you're warming up to Tsubasa." Yuki commented once the door shut behind them.

"A little bit, but…" Aki started to stay but Yuki put a hand onto his shoulder.

"It's okay; just remember that Tsubasa isn't here to replace Kiiro." Yuki said kindly. "Plus, she might be helpful if we ever need to sneak into Team Rocket's hideout.

"When are we doing that?"

"Hopefully never, but you never know."

"Well, we'll see about that." Aki grinned.

"Yeah. Guess we'll just have to see about that." Yuki grinned back as he removed his hand and went to stand by the window. "What type of Pokémon do you think the Gym Leader will employ?"

"The gym likes to use poison type Pokémon." Tsubasa said causing both guys to jump. "Nice to know I still have it." She smiled before going over and sitting on her bed. "I asked Grandfather about it and that was his reply. So I take it you're both challenging the Gym tomorrow?"

"Yep, we're going to see what we're up against at least." Yuki said as he took one last look out the window before walking back to his bed. "What about you Tsubasa? Aren't you going to challenge the Gym?"

Tsubasa shook her head. "No, I may be a trainer but I'm not that into collecting the gym badges. It's not my goal to become the best." About five minutes later there was a knock on the door. "Oh right, I ordered us some pizza." She said and got up before going to the door in order to pay for the pizza. "This is thanks for helping me out."

"If that's the case, you didn't have to buy pizza in order to pay us back." Yuki said as they gathered on Tsubasa's bed. "I'm probably going to go walking around the city after this."

"Okay, just don't do anything I wouldn't do." Tsubasa said with a wink and Yuki almost choked on his pizza, thankfully some water saved him from doing anything to embarrassing.

The rest of dinner passed with a joyous mood and when it was over, Yuki left to walk around town while Aki and Tsubasa continued to joke around.

"Did you see his face when you gave him a wink? Aki asked with his voice full of laughter.

"Yeah, I thought we were going have to save him." Tsubasa laughed as well.

"But really, what did you mean by that?" Aki asked after he sobered up a little.

Tsubasa sobered up immediately and looked out the window. "I probably shouldn't tell you this…"

"You don't have to then; it just doesn't help my curiosity at all though." Aki said as he sensed the sudden change in her.

"…Well, I just want to get this off my chest since it's just weird to think about. But Aki, you have to promise not to tell anyone I told you, except for Yuki." She said and waited for Aki to agree before she continued. "Well, the other night I wanted to get away from my parents and I happen to find them having… sex with each other." At the mention of sex, her face flushed crimson while Aki almost fell off the bed.

"You're serious?"

"Yes, but you have to realize that it was more than just sex. Aki, I know we're young and all, but what I saw wasn't just sex, it was love."

"Wow. Just wow. Who knew Yuki was like that."

"I don't think he knew himself until a few days before that."

"So you think that Yuki isn't just walking around tonight?"

Tsubasa shook her head. "How many Pokéballs did he take with him?" She pointed to where Yuki's belt laid on the bed with only one Pokéball missing as well as the Poké-watch lying next to the belt.

"Ah, good point. Then what should we do about it?"

"We support him. I know for a fact that he's not the only one that feels that way but not everyone is on board with the human-Pokémon relationship and it would be bad if one of them found out."

"Got it. Don't worry Tsubasa; I'm not going out to scream it to everyone." Aki said as he made up his mind. "If that's the case, then we probably shouldn't wait up for him. Shall we play a card game?" He suggested and pulled out a deck of playing cards and Tsubasa agreed so Aki began shuffling the cards before dealing them.


	15. Chapter 15

Yuki sneezed a few times and he rubbed his nose before finding an area surrounded by trees in the Safari Zone. Once he had a fire going, he sat down next to it and released Vaporeon. _"Hello again. Sorry you were in there for so long."_

_It's fine. I was enjoying a nice nap anyway_." Vaporeon replied as she shook herself and stretched. _"Where are we?"_

"_I found this place when we were walking through the Safari Zone earlier today."_

"_It looks cozy here. Wait a second_." Vaporeon said and she felt a tingling sensation before appearing in her human form. "I hate doing the transformation." She said before immediately being hugged by Yuki.

"I still love you Ami." Yuki gave her a kiss and felt her shiver. "Am I just that good of a kisser?"

Ami laughed and punched Yuki on the arm. "You're good, but not that great. I'm just a bit cold."

"Well, I wasn't planning on letting you be cold tonight anyway." Yuki gave Ami another kiss and was about to deepen it when another voice rang out.

"Prepare for trouble." A female voice said.

"And make it double." This time was a male.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all our people within our nation!"

"To announce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Nobuko!"

"Junichi!

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Neko, that's right!" A female voice finished.

"Team Rocket?" Yuki said as he and Ami stood up, with Yuki standing between Team Rocket and Ami. "What do you guys want?"

"We've come for you." Nobuko said with a smirk. Her shoulder length strawberry blonde hair swayed in the wind. She wore the standard Rocket uniform but wore a white arm band on her left arm with the kanji for thirteen in white.

"Giovanni wishes to have a chat with you." Junichi added. He had short black hair that was spiked, wore a black trench coat with the kanji for five in white on his back and that was over the standard Rocket uniform.

"Yeah? Well I'm not going without a fight!" Yuki called out as he went for his belt to summon his Pokémon to help him only to remember that he left them back at the Pokécenter. "No matter, time to put Gary's gift to the test." He brought up his left wrist and went to call out the name of his Pokémon, only to see his bare wrist. "Crap… out of all the times I have to leave my stuff there."

Junichi and Nobuko laughed. "Well, guess you're coming with us without the fight. Nobuko, do it."

Nobuko nodded and fired out a net intended for Yuki, but he was pushed out of the way by Ami and she was captured instead.

"NO! AMI!" Yuki shouted as scrambled to his feet and he tried to pull the net off her while Ami was torn between trying to help Yuki and making sure she covered her body from Junichi and Nobuko.

"Crap, we were supposed to capture the boy." Neko said as Nobuko pushed a button and the ground under them opened but instead of falling, they were lifted into the air by a platform.

"It doesn't matter, we have someone he cares about, he'll find us soon enough." Junichi said as a balloon began to inflate over their heads and soon they were flying away with Ami.

Giovanni rotated his chair around so he was facing the rooms only other occupant. "I knew you would come sooner or later Mr. Ketchum." He smirked.

"Why wouldn't you let me use Mewtwo in that battle?" Ash shouted as he slammed his hands on Giovanni's desk.

"Because I figured you're Pokémon were strong enough to keep your title of Pokémon Master. Or has the former Pokémon Master grown weak enough that he has to rely on other powers?" Giovanni asked calmly, clearly enjoying this.

"That's bullcrap!"  
"Then why didn't you win? And don't even think of using the excuse that your Pokémon were tired from the battle because I know full well that you healed them before hand." Giovanni stated and could see a question forming in Ash's eyes. "The Nurse Joy there secretly works for me, of course, she doesn't realize that but whenever a trainer gets their Pokémon healed, she sends me a list of the Pokémon being healed"

Ash couldn't believe his ears and the shock from the news overrode his anger for a moment.

"A bit off topic, but what do we do with you former Pokémon Master?" Giovanni put his elbows on his desk and rested his chin on his fingers. "You no longer have that title, so then what good are you?"

"I still have enough strength to regain that title; I just want Mewtwo at my side." Ash said and Giovanni shook his head.

"No, Mewtwo only answers to the strongest of trainers, I don't think you have that anymore. But if you want Mewtwo at your side, then you'll have to prove yourself to me."

"Fine then, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle right now!"

"No." Giovanni refused flatly. "That is not how things work here. You will join Team Rocket freely and listen to my orders. When _I_ think you've proven yourself, then I will give Mewtwo to you."

"Fair enough. I will prove you that I'm more than worthy." Ash declared before turning on his heel and marching out.

_I'm sure you will. I'm sure you will do splendidly._ Giovanni thought and laughed darkly.

"Guess we better turn in." Tsubasa said as she put the cards away. They had been playing for a hour and anytime it would seem like one of them would win; the other would make a spectacular comeback.

"Yeah, I'm falling asleep anyway." Aki agreed as he stood up and stretched, several bones cracking as he did so. They both changed into their pajamas and Aki was about to turn off the light when Yuki busted into the room, panting heavily and barely holding back tears.

"Yuki! What happened to you?" Tsubasa said with a worried tone as she got off the bed and quickly knelt by Yuki's side.

"Team… Rocket… Kidnapped… Ami…" Yuki gasped out and the other two exchanged looks.

"Do you have any idea where they could have gone?" Aki asked as he and Tsubasa helped Yuki to his bed.

"Several places, but why would they want Ami? I know she's probably the first Pokémon that can turn into a human, but it doesn't seem like it would fit our morals… Sorry, Team Rocket's morals."

"They wanted me instead." Yuki said, now a bit calmer. "But Ami pushed me out of the way before the net could catch me."

"But why you?" Aki asked.

"Because apparently Giovanni wants to have a few more words with me."

"Did you get their names by chance?" Tsubasa said and hoped Yuki did since it would make things a bit easier.

"Yeah, Junichi and Nobuko. They said it during a chant when they announced themselves."

"It didn't happen to start with prepare for trouble and make it double did it?" Tsubasa asked and Yuki nodded his head. "That's Team Rocket's motto. I got so sick of saying it that I'll only say it once in a while now. Yuki, don't go anywhere until I get back and from now on, don't leave those behind." She pointed to the belt with the Pokéballs and the Poké-watch before leaving.

"Have any idea where she's going?" Yuki asked and Aki shook his head.

"Yuki, I know I seem friendly around her, but I still can't quite trust her enough." Aki started and heard Yuki sigh. "There's just so much that we don't know about her with her past. She could just be here on Giovanni's orders to get you to drop your guard."

"I'm only trusting that she has changed for the better."

"Then at least tell me if this is true." Aki started to say what he wanted and felt his cheeks burn. "Did you and Ami… have sex?"

What Yuki was preparing to answer certainly wasn't that and he was silent for a moment. He looked straight at Aki. "Yes, we did." He self-disclosed calmly and unflinching. "I won't go into the details, but Antero, it just felt right."

"Ah…" Aki sat down as he wrapped his mind around the fact that Tsubasa had spoken the truth. "…Sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to answer so honestly. Then Tsubasa really did walk in on that?"

"Well, Tsubasa stumbled upon us is more like it." Yuki cracked a smile. "But that is the truth. As odd as you might find it, I felt keeping it a secret would hurt our friendship in the long run since you heard about it."

"And if I didn't hear about it?"

"Then I probably wouldn't have said anything… at least not for a while." Yuki said and the door opened once more.

"You guys are in luck. I know exactly where they're taking Ami." Tsubasa said. "But we'll need to be able to swim."  
"How can I ever repay you?" Yuki asked, his spirit seemed lighter.

"You can kick Junichi's and Nobuko's ass for me." Tsubasa smiled and climbed into bed before pulling the covers over her. "You see, Giovanni was the first in command, I was second, Ash would be third, Junichi was the fifth and Nobuko was the sixth strongest members of Team Rocket."

"Hang on; you sound like you were speaking in the past tense." Aki interrupted and he received a glare from Tsubasa.

"I was getting to that. Anyway, Giovanni is still first and Ash is now second, Junichi is third and Nobuko is fourth."

"So then they pretty much moved up one spot then?" Yuki summarized and Tsubasa nodded her head.

"Pretty much, I figure Ash would still battle with honor, but Junichi and Nobuko… oh boy… they will fight dirtier than all of Team Rocket combined if they had the chance to. Thing was, they were my friends back when we first started out."

"Then what happened?" Yuki asked as he changed into his pajamas and got into bed while Aki got into the bed closest to the window.

"Well, they started taking on a view point that Pokémon were hollow inside and it was their mission to heal them. From there, they started rising up in the ranks and eventually the power corrupted them."

"That's really harsh."

"And it happens so many times. The trouble is that you don't really notice it until you went to the next level and by then, it's too late."

"But then what about you Tsubasa?" Aki asked before he could stop himself.

"Growing up with Team Rocket was all I knew and honestly I thought it was the norm and it was amazing the power that one could have with torturing Pokémon. But then along comes this trainer that shows you that kindness can achieve more than watching a Pokémon suffer." Tsubasa paused with a sigh. "To me I thought it was strange but I didn't think about it until I happen to see a kid carrying an Eevee running into the Pokécenter. That's when I started questioning what I considered the norm."

"You saw me early as that?" Yuki asked as he tried to recall the people he saw but not having luck since his mind had been on other things.

"Yeah, you know that my partner was the one that abandoned Eevee. I didn't know what had happen, nor did I have any idea that's what he was planning to do. That I can swear is the truth."

"Then what? What about after you started questioning the motives?"

Tsubasa rolled onto her stomach and looked at the wall before replying. "So I stalked Yuki for a bit in between my missions and when I wasn't watching the torture until I came to realize that maybe the only way I've ever known wasn't the only path. It was about that time when I moved up into the ranks with the intent to taking Team Rocket down."

"Well in any case, I'm glad you're on our side now." Yuki said as he stretched before lying down and looking up at the ceiling.

"I'll warn you guys right now, they say old habits die hard and the stuff I've went through, the urge died down, but it's still there."

"Thanks for the warning." Aki said before rolling onto his side and looked out the window before falling asleep.

"Night Yuki." Tsubasa said softly.

"Good night Tsubasa." Yuki replied but he didn't fall asleep since his mind was too wired about Tsubasa's story and kidnapping of his Vaporeon.

Gary sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He reached for his coffee mug and was about to pick it up when he felt a hand rest on top of his.

"Come to bed Gary. You're not helping Yuki out by working like this." Misty said before giving him a kiss on his head.

"I know darling, but I can feel that this is an important timed event." Gary replied as he closed his eyes as Misty kissed him. "I'm just worried that if I don't hustle, then I might fail them somehow."

"Then at least let me take over so you can sleep." Misty decided as she looked around the room. Stacks of papers were everywhere in piles and his laptop had roughly twenty tabs opened on HiVulpix and that wasn't counting the multiple HiVulpixs on the screen.

"Okay, at least let me look at one more thing and fill you in." Gary requested. "I promise to make it up to you later."

"Fine, one more thing and then you fill me in before going to sleep." Misty said and as Gary filled her in, she wondered if she should have let Gary keep doing the research since she was soon lost. But she bid him good night and started working on the research material and she drew on the experiences she had but nothing seemed to be relevant to what they were trying to find. A few hours later and Misty nearly pulled her hair out in frustration as she was only one step closer to finding a solution.

Yuki, Aki, and Tsubasa stood inside the Fuchsia City Gym and they couldn't believe how easy it would be to get to the Gym Leader and challenge him before continuing on their way… that was, until Yuki and Aki smacked into an invisible wall while Tsubasa enjoyed a bit of a laugh.

"Sorry, did I forget to mention that this gym wouldn't be as easy as you guys thought it would be?"

"You know what? Yeah, for a moment, I thought it would be." Aki said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Well, it would have made things simpler, that's for sure." Yuki agreed as he looked around the gym, only to realize that…

"Good Scott, how the hell are we supposed to tell them apart?" Aki said as they both looked startle to see one person and several more copies of that same person.

"It's simple; we simply talk to each of them and battle them until we find the true Gym Leader." Tsubasa explained.

"But how are we suppose to find our way through?" Aki asked but Tsubasa didn't answer.

"It's simple actually." Yuki said after running his hand over the invisible wall and began to walk one direction until his hand fell through empty air, though it almost caused him to stumble through as well until he regained his footing.

"The answer's not seriously simple as that is it?" Aki asked in disbelief.

"Yep, that the beauty of this gym." Tsubasa smiled. "And yes, I knew the answer all along."

Together they carefully walked through the gym and alternated through the battles before they soon reached the center of the gym where there were two completely identical people standing before them.

"Welcome, I'm glad you could join us." Both people said in perfect unison. "I am the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, Koga and holder of the Soul Badge."

"But how are we suppose to tell you two apart?" Yuki asked as he looked for any differences, but finding none.

"I will fight one of you in a one-on-one battle using two Pokémon each." Both Kogas replied. "I am ready when you are."

Yuki looked at Aki. "Which one do you want to take?"

"I'll take that one." Aki pointed at the Koga on the left.

"Very well Trainer. Prepare to battle." Left Koga said as he stepped forward. Koga's first Pokémon was Koffing and Aki returned the favor by sending out Raichu. The battle lasted for a few minutes before Raichu was able to use Koffing's Smokescreen as a conductor for the Thunderbolt attack which caused Koffing to faint and caused a large explosion which blew a few of the closer walls to collapse. When it cleared, both Koffing and Raichu were lying on the ground and neither could get up to continue so both trainer and Gym Leader recalled their Pokémon.

"I'm not through yet. Weezing, come on out!" Koga announced and Weezing appeared.

"Then feel free to lose this round. Charizard, I choose you!" Aki said as he summoned Charizard. The second round of battle went quickly since Charizard's fire heated the gaseous fumes to the point where they became harmless and soon Weezing fainted.

"Very well, I concede this defeat to you." Koga said before going back to the other Koga's side.

"I'm ready for the battle." Yuki said before right Koga said anything.

Right Koga didn't say anything but sent out Koffing. Yuki sent out Vulpix and began the battle by using a Flamethrower attack. Koffing soon fainted but Muk covered Vulpix and the toxic on Muk's body caused Vulpix to become poisoned and soon fainted.

"Alright Vaporeon…" Yuki started to say after recalling Vulpix but remembered the somber fact that Vaporeon wasn't at his side.

"Do you forfeit this match?" Koga asked after a moment of stone silence. The judge was about to declare Koga the winner but Tsubasa wouldn't let it sit.

"Yuki you moron! Vaporeon wouldn't want you to declare a lost since she's not at your side right now." Tsubasa shouted from the side lines. "Yuki, the only way to save Vaporeon is to beat Koga and his Muk. With every second you delay, it means one more second that you're wasting when you could be saving her. So if you get it through your dense head, then do it for Vaporeon!" Tsubasa announced and Yuki could have sworn she had fire surrounding her.

"Sorry for the wait Koga." Yuki said as he turned to face his opponent and activated a Pokéball before throwing it. "Let's go Haunter!" He declared as Haunter came out. "Haunter, take Muk down." Yuki said with a cold determination to his voice. Haunter phased its body out enough to allow Muk's attacks to pass harmlessly through him and only solidified its body when it launched an attack and eventually Muk fainted and seconds after the judge declared Muk was unable to battle, Haunter fainted as well.

"Trainers. Congratulations." The right Koga removed the outfit to reveal a girl. "I am really Koga's niece, Aya." She introduced and Yuki couldn't help but to take a sharp intake of breath at her name.

"Indeed, I am the real Koga." Koga bowed. "Though I have only battled one of you, I can see that your soul and dreams are strong enough for me to bestow the Soul Badge to each of you." He handed them each the Soul Badge. "Remember, keep your dreams, hopes, and your soul strong and you will be able to overcome any obstacle."

"Thank you. We will remember your words always." Yuki bowed before Koga and Nobuko disappeared in a puff of smoke and they left the Gym before healing their Pokémon and going down to the water's edge.

Vaporeon awoke with a start and she first realized that it was unbearably cold where she was and it didn't help that she was still in her human form. Teeth chattering, she curled into a ball to keep as much warmth in her as she could but it didn't help much. She then decided to move around and could only stand up part way when her head hit the bottom of something solid and she found herself to be in a cage. As she realized where she was, she peered through the bars and found that there were several more cages, each housing a different Pokémon. "Yuki, where are you?" She said in hope that Yuki was nearby.

"Give it up girl; you aren't going to be rescued way down here." A wild Clefable said softly to Vaporeon. Like Vaporeon, she was also in a cage and was across from her. "I've been here for so long that I know the only way out is to die."

Vaporeon huddled away from the Clefable which wasn't that far away. "You don't know Yuki, I know he will come for me."  
"That song and dance is getting old, like I said, I've seen so many Pokémon come in and the only way they left was by dying. If you're lucky, you'll die from the cold before too long."

"No, I know he will come for me." Vaporeon said and managed to change back into her Pokémon form.

"I'll be here when you finally come to realize that I'm right." Clefable fell silent but continued to watch Vaporeon as she cried herself to sleep.

Aki summoned Magikarp and watched as it flopped around on the ground like a fish out of water before he put it into the water on route 19.

"Now I have to think of which Pokémon I have that know how to swim." Yuki grumbled as Tsubasa sent out Starmie. With a glance at his Poké-watch, he thought for a moment. "Give me the names of all Pokémon currently in my possession." He told the electronic device and it beeped a couple of times before it started listing off Pokémon and showing a picture of it on the screen.

"Squirtle, Butterfree, Pidgeot, Spearow, Ekans, Pikachu, Sandslash, Clefairy, Zubat, Paras, Venonat, Dugtrio, Meowth, Golduck, Arcanine, Poliwhirl, Kadabra, Machoke, Graveler, Rapidash, Farfetch'd, Doduo, Haunter, Onix, Hypno, Krabby, Voltorb, Exeggcute, Hitmonchan, Lickitung, Weezing, Rhyhorn, Chansey, Tangela, Kangaskhan, Horsea, Scyther, Electabuzz, Pinsir, Tauros, Magikarp, Ditto, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Porygon, Snorlax, and Dratini."

"Squirtle, Golduck, Poliwhirl, Krabby, Horsea, and Vaporeon." Yuki muttered to himself before he made up his mind. Seeing that they were going to be crossing water, he chose Rapidash to be the Pokémon that he switched. "I wish to trade Rapidash for Golduck." He said clearly and several beeps later, the Pokéball that held Rapidash disappeared and was replaced with another Pokéball. "Come on out Golduck!" He said and as the light died down, he saw that it was Weezing that had appeared instead. _Crap. I didn't want Weezing._ He though before recalling Weezing and doing the exchange. This time he received Chansey, then Pinsir, and then Sandslash and he finally got Golduck.

With a sigh, he tied a rope around Golduck's waist and swam out to where Tsubasa, Aki and their Pokémon were having a splash battle; this time Magikarp's only attack actually did something which amazed all three trainers. Sure, it only caused waves but it was still something to behold.

"You ready?" Tsubasa asked when Yuki got close enough.

"Yeah, I'm set to go." Yuki said and a wave passed over his Pokéwatch and for a moment, he was worried that it was busted but was soon relieved that it was still fine.

"We probably should get a move on." Aki urged and the group started swimming. He was going to say more but a Tentacool blocked their way. That one was caught only for another to take its place and that one was caught by Yuki.

After about ten Tentacools intercepting them, they decided to use a few repeals and they had clear swimming with the exception of the trainers they came across and thanks to the repeals, they soon reached Seafoam Island just as a storm began brewing so they quickly ducked into the cave for shelter and seconds later, hail began to pelt at the ground.

"That was lucky." Aki commented as they watched the hail hit the ground until the weather changed which caused the trio to move deeper to avoid the incoming hail.

"Guess we can either wait here for the night or we could go explore the Island and see what it has to offer." Yuki suggested and Aki summoned Charizard to keep them warm thanks to the flame on its tail.

"Let's rest for a bit and dry off, then explore." Tsubasa sat down and rubbed her hands together for additional warmth.

Giovanni thought they were idiots for doing what they did. The idiots in question were none other than Junichi and Nobuko after they had kidnapped a girl, but he had to admit that he was impressed when they reported that the girl had transformed into the same Vaporeon that belong to Yuki. "Very well, report back to me if anything changes." He said when he heard that the other Rockets had to get into the Island caves and out of the hail. With the transmission cut, he leaned back in his chair and scratched his Persian's head. "I wonder how this will all play out." He asked the silent room and received no response except for Persian purring.

When they felt rested, the trio began to explore the Island but they hadn't expected it to go down so far and the air got colder the further down they went. They came upon a frozen section of ground and they found that they could glide around so they did some ice skating, though it was more of them slipping and falling instead of staying on their feet.

Just when they thought they couldn't go down any further, Tsubasa surprised them by revealing a hidden staircase that they could go down. "Beware; I don't know how many Rocket members are down here so we need to tread cautiously." She led them into a secret room and they had to duck out of sight for Junichi walked in from another passage way.

"_Ami?"_ Yuki thought he felt a brief flash of her presence but he couldn't be sure.

"_Y… Y… Yuki?" _Ami's voice came back over their connection._ "I'm so c…c…cold."_

"_Don't worry; we're going to break you out. Is Nobuko in the room with you?"_

"_Yeah, she's trying to calm down a bird they call Articuno."_

"_Okay, hang tight."_ Yuki broke off the conversation and he looked at his companions. "You were right Tsubasa. They did bring Vaporeon here, and several more Pokémon." He whispered.

"That's great to know, but how are we going to get them out of there?" Aki whispered back. Yuki was going to make a suggestion but an unexpected jolt of pain from Vaporeon's side caused him to cry out as if he was the one that had taken the hit, which caused Junichi to look over in the direction before making his way over to investigate.

They didn't let him get to close before Aki did an uppercut, which cause Junichi to stumble backwards. "Go, you know your way around better than we do." He told Tsubasa and she quickly got to work while he fought off Junichi. They could hear a lot crash from the other room and the outside of the door glowed with multiple colors before it was blasted to the other side of the room, barely missing Aki and Junichi. From the other room, Articuno shrieked before flapping its wings and flying from the room it was in and using Ice Beam on the control panel before making its way to the out of the island with Junichi and Nobuko hot on its heel to try and capture it before it went too far.

"Tsubasa, let's go." Yuki said as he made his way for the room with the cages.

"Yuki, I can't." Tsubasa said as the guys looked and saw her hands were frozen to the console. "It's so c…c…cold." She knew that she could lose her arms if she tried to move and thankfully, Aki used Charizard to melt the ice, though it was taking a while so the heat wouldn't burn her too bad.

Yuki meanwhile rushed into the cage room and looked around at all the Pokémon. He heard a happy cry and saw Vaporeon.

"See, I told you he would come." Vaporeon said to the Clefable, who could only stare back in amazement that her trainer did come to rescue her. Vaporeon meanwhile turned and faced Yuki, a smile on her face. _"Hey, glad you made it. Now how about getting me out?"_

"_Who died and made you the boss?"_ Yuki asked as he examined the lock. _"Wait until I'm free, then use a light coating of Water Gun to freeze the lock."_ He stepped back and Vaporeon got the lock wet and due to the chilly air, the water froze almost instantly. "Well, "let's hope this works." Yuki said as he found a metal pipe and it burned picking it up. Giving it a swing, he used his might to hit the lock and waited until the lock shattered and the cage door swung open. He would have opened his arms to let Vaporeon jump into them, but he felt the skin of his hands being pulled and he cried out in a sharp pain.

"_What's wrong?"_

"_I can't let go of this pipe, not unless I want my skin to rip off. Listen, this will hurt me, but I think it's the best way to free the Pokémon, get the locks wet and I'll smash them open."_

"_Leave it to me."_ Vaporeon got each of the locks wet so they could freeze and Yuki ran down the rows of cages and breaking each lock, though each swing sent a wave of pain through his arms.

"Now, let's get going." Yuki said and he led the way out and met up with Tsubasa and Aki. "Careful guys, having a freezing cold pipe isn't that fun on your hands." He said.

"Yuki! You're going have to let go of the pipe, regardless of how much it'll hurt. We can heal your hands but if you don't let go, then we might not have much to heal." Tsubasa explained while Aki started digging around in his bag for something.

Yuki gritted his teeth, but he couldn't hold back the scream of pain as his skin was ripped from his hands. It hurt worst on the second time but finally he got the pipe off him and Aki sprayed a burn heal, an ice heal, and a potion onto Yuki's hands. "What happened to Team Rocket?"

"They went back up to try and catch Articuno." Aki explained as he checked Yuki's hands for any other burns.

"Then we're stopping them."

"Too late bro, Tsubasa is already chasing them."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Together, Yuki, Vaporeon, Aki and the newly freed Pokémon ran/slid the rest of the way to the other side of the islands and neared the cave exit to find Tsubasa waiting for them.

"Glad to see you're alright Yuki."

"Thanks, but what about Articuno?"

"He's freezing the water and anything that tries to come near him." Tsubasa explained. "Even Team Rocket called off their attacks and took shelter in another cave."

"Then we just have to stop it."

"And I suppose you have a plan?" Aki asked while Yuki grinned.

"Nope. None what-so-ever." Yuki said while the other two fell to the ground anime style. "But we have to try; otherwise we might be experiencing an ice age a lot sooner than we thought." He summoned Pidgeot and climbed onto it's back while Vaporeon hopping up in front of him. "You two make sure these Pokémon get away safely and if you can, try to distract Articuno." The other two nodded and Yuki flew out of the cave and took to the sky and it was then that the battle begun when Pidgeot banked sharply to avoid an Ice Beam.

"Well, you heard the guy, let's get out of here." Aki said and the Pokémon cheered before rushing out to the storm. However, they didn't run far before the Pokémon stopped and watched the battle. Those that could fly took to the sky while the fire types tried to burn Articuno while the water Pokémon tried to blast Articuno down and the electric types combined their electric attacks with the water to add more power. Well, that was until an army of Tentacools and Trentacruels started moving towards them.

"Crap, this can be a good thing or a bad thing." Yuki said as they now had to avoid the other Pokémon attacks as well as Articuno. "Pidgeot, try to get higher than Articuno. I have an idea but it's a damned crazy one."

"_No, you aren't doing that."_ Vaporeon argued.

"_It might be the only way since we can't get close. I doubt even a Pokéball could make it." _Yuki reasoned.

"_Fine, just be careful. And Yuki… Good luck." _Vaporeon said.

"I'll do my best." Yuki waited until they managed to get higher than Articuno. "Now Pidgeot, fly directly over Articuno." Once they were above the ice bird Pokémon, Yuki dropped down and landed on Articuno's back, quickly grabbing on as it tried to shake him off. "I think I'm going to be air-sick like this." He muttered before activating a Pokéball and pressing it against Articuno. There was a moment of tension that Articuno might break free, then there was the moment of joy that he caught it, and finally, there was the realization that made his blood run cold. "Hey, I can see my imminent death from here." He said but Pidgeot swooped under and caught him. "Thanks buddy, now let's get back to the ground." Of course, once they landed, the sky cleared up and Team Rocket was nowhere to be found.

"Well, that was simply great." Tsubasa said as she slugged Yuki on the arm, quite hard at that. "Why don't you just go do a stupid move like that?"

Yuki rubbed his arm; he wouldn't admit that her punch hurt worst than he let on. "What? It worked out in the end. Thanks Pidgeot, and Ami, I'm glad you were up there with me as well."

The moment was ruined when they heard a sharp cracking noise and they glanced down to see several cracks forming in the ice. "I got a bad feeling about this." Aki muttered.

"Yeah, you and every other Star Wars character." Tsubasa replied in a deadpan tone, but the ice was breaking too quickly to ask what she meant.

"Hey guys, I just thought of a good idea. RUN!" Yuki shouted and they and the freed Pokémon ran while the cracks in the ice got wider and wider until pieces began breaking off.

"Yuki, use Articuno to freeze the water for the Pokémon that can't swim." Tsubasa suggested as she sent out Staryu and jumped into the water after it. Aki summoned Magikarp and let it pull him through the water and the water Pokémon also swam next to them while Yuki summoned Articuno and was pleased that Articuno was able to freeze a path of water for the non-swimmable type Pokémon.

"Oh crap, don't tell me that's what I think it is." Aki said after they traveled for a few minutes, only for them to be seen coming closer to a group of whirlpools. All water Pokémon where smart enough to jump over the whirlpools except for the Magikarp that Aki was with. "AH!" He shouted before the current took him under.

"We're in big trouble now." Nobuko said as they examined the destroyed section of their base.

"I don't think we have too much to worry about." Junichi said calmly.

"Okay then wise guy, just why the hell not? Or do you think that Giovanni will forgive us for not only letting a legendary bird escape, but also that the kid caught it?

"I know, but I think we have something better than a stupid bird." Junichi put on a glove and held up the pipe that Yuki had used to free the Pokémon and looked at it, where pieces of skin still stuck to the side. "We created Mewtwo way back then, why not giving human cloning a try?" He looked at Nobuko with a smirk and Nobuko smirked back.


	16. Chapter 16

From under the water, Aki considered yelling at Magikarp but he was doing everything he could just to keep his mouth shut due to the current, though the need to breathe was becoming more pressing. Just as he was about to open his mouth, bright white light blinded him.

On top of the water, the Pokémon, Yuki and Tsubasa were planning a rescue attempt when the water glowed white for a few seconds before they were showered by water as a Gyarados shot up before coming back down. "What do you guys think?" Aki asked with a wide grin. "My Magikarp evolved to save me."

"That was really lucky." Tsubasa said as she turned away so he wouldn't see just how relieved she really was.

"Yeah, you're lucky alright, but let's get away from these whirlpools in case they decide to get stronger." Yuki said and they managed to Cinnabar Island without much further trouble.

"Any closer sweetheart?" Gary asked as he walked in carry two cups of coffee.

"Nothing yet." Misty said as she leaned back in the chair and rubbed her eyes before accepting the coffee with a small thanks and sipping it. "Gary, have you thought maybe this sort of thing hasn't happen before?"

"Several times." Gary admitted as he pulled up a chair and sat in it with a sigh. "If that's the case, then this should be interesting to see how it plays out."

"What do you think will happen?"

"Well, Vaporeon can be stuck switching between her Pokémon and human form for the rest of the time. Or after so many transformations she can be stuck in one form of another."

Misty thought for a moment before she snapped her fingers. "Thank you honey. I'll be right back." She said and dashed from the room, leaving Gary quite confused. She came back in with a book in hand. "Here, this is the closest I can get."

Gary took the book and sighed. "Shrek?"

"Yeah, we bought this book to read to Tsubasa when she got older… either that or Professor Oak gave it to us. Anyway, it's about an Ogre that goes to rescue a princess and eventually discovers she's an Ogre as well."

Gary looked at the back cover before typing the new information into his computer. "Alright, then what happened?"

"He had to decide if he wanted the princess to remain human or to remain an Ogress like him."

"And how did he decide?"

"I believe they shared a kiss just as the last of the sun's rays disappeared."

"Did it give a time frame?"

Misty shook her head. "I don't remember."

"At least it's a bit closer than we were last night." Gary hugged Misty and kissed her before returning to the computer.

"Alright, I'm ready to take on the Gym Leader!" Yuki said as they walked up to the gym only to find that it was locked. "How are we suppose to battle the Gym Leader if he's out?"

"Maybe he'll just arrive later." Tsubasa said as she looked around. "Why don't we explore the island."

"Sure. Guess we can." Aki said before Yuki's phone rang.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm going to answer this." Yuki said and answered the phone while the other two started walking away. "Hello."

"Who do you think that is?" Tsubasa asked as she looked behind her at Yuki talking on the phone.

"I can answer correctly, but it'll take a while." Aki said as they entered a mansion that was unlocked. "Crap, I didn't think people this rich could live like this." He stated as he looked around. Instead of everything being spotless, the inside was trashed, furniture broken, black soot and scorch marks on nearly every surface. "What happened here?"

"I want to find out, that's for sure." Tsubasa said as she strode forward a few steps before the floor broke and she started falling only to be saved by Aki gripping her arm.

"Don't worry, I got you."

"What does it look like down there?" Tsubasa asked but Aki never got a chance to reply for the floor under him broke and they fell into the basement.

"Ow. That wasn't fun." Tsubasa said as she sat up and rubbed her head.

"You wanted to know what was down here." Aki said as he rolled onto his back before sitting up.

"Yeah but I was going to tell you to drop me if it was clear." She looked to her side and roughly a foot away there was a piece of furniture that stood pointing straight up with a sharp looking edge to it.

"Hey, look at that." Aki pointed to a wall that looked newer than the rest of the place. "I know we haven't seen the place, but based on what we saw in the living room and fell through; I think this is just out of place."

"I'm not sure; maybe they're remodeling and had to start somewhere."

"Then why start with the basement?"

"Maybe they're just weird like that?" Tsubasa questioned but the look in Aki's eyes told her that he wasn't buying it. Seconds later, Golem appeared and punched a hole through the wall, causing Tsubasa to cringe, hoping they didn't just destroy what was an honest remodeling attempt.

"See, it's a fake wall. Golem, punch it again until it collapses." Aki said and soon the fake wall fell to reveal a steel doorway with the door missing.

"Wow, Yuki is going to regret missing this." Tsubasa said as she looked into the room and heard someone scream behind them and they turned to find Yuki getting up and brushing himself off before Vaporeon hopped down onto his head from the first floor.

"So, guess stairs are too mainstream?" Yuki asked after he finished brushing himself off.

"Yep, pretty much." Aki replied. "Come check this out." Together the trio entered the previously sealed off room so see several large tubes shattered, tubes shredded, files all over the place, and several computers destroyed. "What happened here?"

Tsubasa picked up a stack of papers and blew the light layer of dust off them. " This is the only thing I can read from this; "To make the strongest Pokémon ever... that was our dream..." But what are they referring to?" She tried to flip the pages but nothing else was on them.

"They wanted to create Mewtwo here." Yuki said as he examined the test tube where Mewtwo had broken out from. "When I met him, his memories showed me how he escaped from this lab."

"But you didn't know where we were?"

"Not until we entered the room." Yuki replied as he looked away from the test tube but his finger brushed against a piece of broken glass and pulled his finger away as a drop of blood started rolling down the glass. The four held their breaths in case something happened but nothing did.

"So they created Mewtwo in this lab to be the strongest Pokémon ever?" Aki asked as Tsubasa nodded. "And he's under Giovanni's control?" Both Yuki and Tsubasa nodded. "Then how are we supposed to stop or help free Mewtwo?" The tense silence was only broken by the sound of Vaporeon becoming human and only Aki blushed before quickly looking away quickly. Yuki only sighed before digging the clothes from his bag and handing them to her.

"It's great being able to talk." Ami said once she was dressed. "I can tell that there was a strong Pokémon here, even if it was in the past I can still feel the vibes that Mewtwo released." They heard a something and Aki called back Golem and summoned Alakazam at the same time.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Yuki said.

"Yeah, you and every other Star Wars character." Tsubasa replied.

"I think we already did that joke." Ami responded as they formed a circle to watch each other's back.

"We might just be paranoid about hearing things." Aki said sounding hopeful that it was just something that was falling into place. Without warning, several explosions went off around the building above them. They were momentarily blinded by the flashes and they all chuckled nervously as the explosion stopped.

"Okay, that was scary." Ami said as she clung to Yuki's side. Yuki in turned hugged Ami and things fell deathly silent when there was a loud groaning.

"Something tells me things went from bad to worse." Tsubasa commented as they looked up to find something that could be making that sound. The groaning stopped momentarily but a small amount of dust began to flow like a waterfall down from the ceiling of the first floor. Then the dust turned into part of the ceiling.

"Oh crap." Aki muttered as the ceiling started to collapse.

Blaine heard the explosion and looked out the window to see several Team Rocket grunts running away and leaving several Voltorbs and a few Electrodes in their wake. "Out of all the times not to have a police station on hand." He muttered and began moving towards the Pokécenter, pleased to find Nurse Joy and several others were already heading for the mansion.

"Alakazam, push the debris to the side." Aki said and they watched as the fallen debris was pushed to the side of Yuki's shield.

"Can you teleport us out?" Yuki asked as a couple of support beams fell onto the shield. "I could teleport me and Ami out, but then it would leave you two here."

"Not enough strength for that yet?" Tsubasa asked.

"Pretty much, plus I haven't really been practicing with that."

"Alakazam, use teleport on the five of us." Aki said after a short beat and they appeared outside of the mansion. Once they were out, Yuki dropped the shield and it seemed that it had been the only thing that prevented the mansion from collapsing. Aki recalled Alakazam as Nurse Joy ran up to them.

"Where did you four come from?" She demanded.

"We were almost crushed in that building." Ami replied timidly.

"You were in there? Explain what you were doing there and setting off explosions! Those things are dangerous."

"Nurse Joy. I will take the kids." Blaine said as he hobbled towards them. "In the absent of Officer Jenny, I hold the highest rank on the island so I will take them into my custody." He finished and stood calmly while it was clear Nurse Joy didn't want to let them leave. "I believe that none of them set off the explosions otherwise why would they have risked their lives?"

"Fine." Nurse Joy huffed. "Take them with you; I'm too busy right now."

"We'll help out." Yuki offered but Blaine shook his head.

"There's not much you can do. It's best to let them handle it." Blaine said and he started moving away but stopped when an Onix, Golem, Starmie, and Kadabra came out. "Those kids have no respect for their elders these days." He muttered but smiled. "But at least they have the right kind of heart."

Night fell and they were still clearing the wreckage, many people even brought out their fire type Pokémon to help with the lighting and even Blaine released Ponyta and Rapidash.

They finished around midnight and as a small reward, they were allowed to spend as long as they needed in a private room free of charge at the Pokécenter. But they also had to account for their reasoning as to why they were there and thankfully they had the backing of Blaine because of what he had witness.

"If you would like, you may battle me, providing you think you're strong enough." Blaine said as he pulled out a key. "This is the key to unlocking the gym. Come face me when you're ready." He then left the four alone.

"So, still want to face him that quickly?" Tsubasa asked.

"Sure. But in the morning." Yuki said as he crawled into bed with Ami snuggling up next to him.

"By the way Yuki, who called you earlier?" Aki asked as he sat on a different bed.

"Oh that, it was Gary calling me to let me know that he found some research." Yuki said and gave Ami a small kiss on her forehead. "I'm just going have to decide if I want to let Ami stay as a human or a Pokémon."

"How long do you have to decide?" Tsubasa asked.

"Until the next full moon." Ami replied.

"Um, isn't that in a couple of days?" Aki asked as he checked his calendar. "Well, in four days."

"I know, and by that time I plan to be back in Pallet Town."

"Then I wish you luck on your decision. Good night guys." Tsubasa said as she went to another bed and laid down in it.

"Yeah, good night." Aki said before adding. "I don't envy you Yuki."

"Night everyone." Yuki said as they all fell asleep.

Yuki sighed. "This time we're fighting the Gym Leader and I'm not letting a door stop me this time." He inserted the key and the unlocked doors slid open so they entered to find another door blocking their way with a trainer to the side and a machine before them. The machine was in the shape of an angel, complete with wings, a halo, a gold face, and dressed in white.

"To battle or not to battle, that is the question." Aki said as he looked from the machine to the trainer. "Suppose we try the machine first and if it doesn't work, then we'll battle the trainer."

"Fair enough." Tsubasa said and stepped up to the machine and it activated.

There was a small ding, then the angel spoke. "Information. Pokémon Quiz! Get it right and the door opens to the next room! Get it wrong and face a trainer! If you want to conserve your Pokémon for the Gym Leader... Then get it right! Here we go! Caterpie evolves into Butterfree?"

"False. Caterpie evolves into Metapod." Tsubasa answered.

*Ding* "Information. Correct." Next to them, the door slid open on its own. *Ding* "You may proceed." The angel powered down and the trio continued on before coming to the next angel machine.

*Ding* "Information. There are 9 certified Pokémon League Badges?"

"False, there are eight." Yuki replied.

*Ding* "Information. Correct. You may proceed."

They went to the next room.

"You know, I'm surprised the trainers aren't battling us."Aki reflected

*Ding* "Information. Poliwag evolves 3 times."

"I got this." Aki said. "True."

*Ding* "Information. Incorrect. Not counting Poliwag, it evolves 2 times." The angel turned its head. *Ding* "Information, please battle the trainer to the side to proceed."

"You had to say something about that didn't you Aki?" Tsubasa laughed as she watched the battle between the trainer and Aki. When the trainer was defeated, the doors slid open so they could continue on.

*Ding* "Information. Are thunder moves effective against ground element-type Pokémon?"

"False. Electric moves hardly do any damage to ground type." Tsubasa replied.

*Ding* "Information. Correct. You may proceed."

They approached the next angel cautiously, seeing as the questions were getting a bit harder.

*Ding* "Information. Pokémon of the same kind and level are not identical?"

"True. While their physical appearance may be similar, they're stats can be different." Yuki replied.

*Ding* "Information. Correct. You may proceed."

"One more to go, then we can face Blaine." Aki said before he realized that he was due up to answer the final question. "Um, I have an idea, why don't we just skip me and let Tsubasa answer this one?"

"Nope, we aren't going to break the pattern for this time Aki. It's okay if you get it wrong since you'll be gaining experience as well as getting prepared for your battle." Tsubasa replied and pushed Aki towards the angel.

*Ding* "Information. TM28 contains Tombstone?"

"How the hell am I suppose to know that?" Aki panic and looked around the room as if the answer might magically appear before him. "Um, false." He finally answered.

*Ding* "Information. Correct. You may proceed." The angel powered down and Aki breathed a loud sigh of relief.

"I got it right." Aki said and gave the other three a thumbs-up.

"I knew you could do it." Tsubasa said as she hugged him.

"Now, let's take out Blaine." Yuki declared after giving Aki a high five.

"I'm going to heal my Pokémon, but I'll be right back. Go ahead and start without me." Aki said as he made his way back through the gym.

"Are you sure?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah seriously." Aki said before he disappeared.

Yuki, Tsubasa and Ami looked at each other before they shrugged. "Alright, guess I'll start." He said before walking up to meet Blaine. "I have decided to challenge you for the right of your Gym Badge."

Blaine smiled. "I figured I would see you today. Very well, if you win, I will give you the Volcano Badge as the proof you need for the Pokémon League."

"Go get him Yuki!" Ami cheered loudly from the sidelines before she turned to Tsubasa. "Do you think I could stand by him?"

"I'm not sure. Normally it's only the trainer and Gym Leader. Although I have heard of Pokémon standing next to them."

"I'm technically a Pokémon remember."

"I know, but right now you're human." Tsubasa replied as she paused long enough to watch the battle between Blaine's Growlithe against Yuki's Haunter. "Ami, go ahead. But be careful down there." She said and Ami jumped up before running down to stand by Yuki.

"Hi there." Yuki said with a smile before turning back to the battle just as Aki came back. In the end, Yuki still had one Pokémon standing when he defeated Blaine's Pokémon.

"You battled well young man." Blaine said as he came over. "I will give you the Volcano Badge on one occasion. The girl next to you, why did she come down?" He looked from Yuki to Ami.

"Because she's my lover and I would want her to be by my side much as possible." Yuki replied honest and gave Ami's hand a small squeeze.

"Alright, I understand young love but I can tell that she's not fully human. Am I correct?"

Yuki felt his breath catch in his throat. "No, she's really a Vaporeon." If he was expecting Blaine to be pissed off, he was in for a surprise.

"Don't worry young man. I'm not going to condemn you for your choice of love. I'm too old to care about that. All I ask is that you treat this young lady, your Vaporeon, with the upmost love and respect."

"I promise to do so." Yuki replied as Blaine kissed Ami's hand like a gentleman.

"Yuki, I present to you the Volcano Badge." Blaine said as he stood up but didn't hold anything out.

"Um, that's great and all, but, and I don't mean to be rude, where's the badge?"

"Look besides you."

Yuki did and Ami handed him the Volcano Badge.

"Admittedly, this would be better with the Soul Badge, but this should do."

"Thank you Blaine."

"And thank you for helping us out. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to lock up the gym while I heal my Pokémon." Blaine said and they followed him out. "Wait here for me." He said and left the four alone.

Since Blaine was taking a long time, Aki decided to fish to pass the time and for the most part he just released the Pokémon that he caught without a battle but it was until a weird L-block shaped Pokémon appeared that got everyone excited.

Yuki pulled out his Pokédex since Aki was busy engaging the Pokémon. "What is this Pokémon?" He asked hoping they would get an answer.

"Missingno. There is no further data on this Pokémon." The Pokédex reported.

"That's just great." Aki growled as he battled the Pokémon with his Charizard. When it was finally weakened enough, Aki pulled out an Ultraball and threw it towards Missingno only for a whip to deflect the ball away.

"I thank you." A Team Rocket member said as he threw his own Greatball at the same time there was a sharp voice.

"DON'T CATCH THAT MISSINGNO!" Blaine shouted but he was too late as the Rocket Grunt caught the Pokémon.

"Nice try old man, I have the best Pokémon now and no one would dare to challenge me." The Rocket said as the Greatball returned to his hand. The moment the ball touched his hand, the Rocket began to scream in pain and tried to release the Greatball but it broke apart and the two ends sunk into the Rocket's skin while Missingno appeared.

"What's happening to him?" Yuki asked Blaine when the latter reached the teens.

"Missingno shouldn't even exist but to whoever catches it, it stands a chance to make that person its slave." Blaine explained as the Rocket Grunt put his hands over his eyes and fell to his knees.

"How did Missingno come about?" Aki asked and now glad that the Rocket Grunt inavertly saved his life.

"We aren't sure, but you can see the effects it's having on him." Blaine said just before the Rocket Grunt let out a loud scream and ripped his hands from his face, showing pixilated eyes. He stopped screaming as the pixilation appeared on random parts on his body and soon fell silent. "It's complete. Now we have no choice but to kill him."

Ami bared her teeth at the MissingRocket and Yuki would have found it cute if her teeth were slightly longer. "Watch out, we don't know what he's capable of doing."

As if to answer Ami's warning, the MissingRocket held up its hand before firing off a Hyper beam forcing the group to jump to the sides while the Hyper beam ripped through the streets.

"Wow, that was Hyper beam?" Tsubasa asked. "What else can this guy do?"

"Let's hope he can't use all the powerful moves." Yuki said before they were forced to take cover from two Fire Blasts. "Ami, if you can change back, now would be the time." He told her before peaking out and getting cut by a few leaves before pulling his head back.

"What do we do now?" Aki asked from the other side of the street. "I don't think we're going to be able to get close enough to take him down."

"What about getting him into the Volcano?" Tsubasa suggested.

"We can, but it's too risky." Blaine replied.

"Then we'll just tag team him from different angles." Yuki decided and was glad Ami found a way to change back into Vaporeon.

"If you two cover me long enough, I might be able to get to the water." Tsubasa stated.

"No time, MOVE!" Aki pushed Tsubasa away as the building they were behind fell where they had been seconds before. While on the other side of the street, several bolts of lightning rained down and just missed Yuki, Vaporeon and Blaine which forced the group into the middle of the street.

"Do not… attempt… to stop me… from awakening… Moltres…." MissingRocket declared in a mechanical sounding voice that occasionally went back to being human. He then teleported from their sight.

"Okay… where did he go?" Aki asked after a second.

"Most likely the volcano." Blaine said as there was a slight rumbling under their feet. "I haven't seen Moltres for some time now but it would make sense for it to rest inside an extremely hot place."

"Then we have to get up there." Yuki said but Blaine was already running fast as he could towards the base of the volcano. "Guess we follow him?" The others agreed so they ran after Blaine, who led them through a tunnel and they came out over looking a battle arena that was suspended above the lava.

"This is the soon-to-be gym." Blaine explained upon seeing the shocked looks on their faces. "It's not quite ready yet but almost."

"Is that him?" Tsubasa asked as she pointed to a lone figure in the middle of the battlefield and the lone figure was shooting Ice Beam after Ice Beam all over the lava.

"What's he doing?" Aki asked.

"Trying to freeze Moltres' surrounding to wake him up most likely." Tsubasa replied.

"But how would that… oh, I see." Aki started to ask but there was a loud cry before Moltres shot out from the lava.

"And now it's pissed off." Blaine commented which probably wasn't the best thing to say because Moltres let off a Fire Blast in their direction causing them to run back into the tunnel.

"Let me get something straight." Tsubasa began. "If Moltres is pissed off and MissingRocket angers it, could it cause Moltres to make the volcano erupt?" Those words caused everyone to freeze and look at each other. "Please tell me that's not his plan."

"I think it might be." Aki said nervously.

"Well we won't have long to wait." Yuki said as the heat began to rise. They heard a loud scream before the MissingRocket ran by them on fire. "Hey it's the Mexican Fire Dance." He said and they chuckled but a tap on his shoulder caused him to look back to see lava coming towards them. "RUN!" He shouted and they ran. "Please work this time. I need Pidgeot." Yuki spoke into the Pokéwatch and he was rewarded by trading out one Pokémon and getting Pidgeot this time. While they ran Yuki called out Pidgeot and Aki called out Charizard but it didn't give much room for them to fly because the tunnel was meant for humans really. Around them Steam began to form from the cooler outside air. Getting onto their Pokémon, the two flying types burst out from the steam filled passage just before the first of lava shot out behind them but they weren't out of trouble yet as Moltres tried to fry them by using a flaming dive-bomb style attack.

"This one is mine." Aki said before he turned Charizard to follow after Moltres. Behind him, Tsubasa tried to call out Fearow to help but Moltres wasn't letting her have a chance as it attacked them every time so she gave up.

"Aki, lead Moltres over the water, I'll be able to drop off and land in the water." Tsubasa said as she pressed herself close to Aki as possible to avoid creating any more drag.

"But how do you know Moltres won't target you in your free fall?"

"Because I'll have you two to distract it long enough."

"Alright, get ready." Aki said and had Charizard fly right by Moltres, causing the bird to follow after them until they were over the ocean. "Now Tsubasa!" He shouted and pulled Charizard into a climb allowing Tsubasa to slide straight down and she dove into the water gracefully. "Show off." Aki muttered under his breath while Charizard continued to dodge Moltres' attacks.

"Hang on Aki!" Yuki said as Pidgeot used Wing Attack and managed to hit Moltres in time to direct another Flamethrower away from the intended target. Moltres recovered in time to get his by a Hydro pump from the water and the guys looked down to see Tsubasa standing triumpily on Gyarados' back.

Aki smiled and with Moltres distracted, he threw an Ultraball at Moltres and after a few tense seconds caught the bird Pokémon. "Hey, when was the last time you caught a Pokémon and it felt warm in your entire body?"

"We can answer that later, but right now we need to stop the lava from taking out the island." Yuki reminded them as they had all forgotten about it in their quest to stop Moltres.

"Right. Moltres, come out." Aki said and called Moltres out while recalling Charizard. Instead of being burned to a crisp, Aki felt Moltres was pleasantly warm. "Alright Moltres, back to the volcano."

"What are you doing?" Yuki shouted at Aki's retreating back.

"Is that stupid fool going to sacrifice himself?" Tsubasa asked as she watched Moltres disappear into the volcano.

"If he does, I'll bring him back and kill him myself." Yuki replied.

Aki took a breath as he circled the volcano. "Alright Moltres, let's go." He commanded and Moltres dove into the opening of the volcano but Aki was completely fine despite the lava surrounding him but he did feel warmer than usual. He wasn't quite sure what his plan was but Moltres flew towards the rock walls and melted it as they passed through. "Head back towards the water's edge but come out before you reach the water." Moltres gave a cry to show that he understood and changed direction and Aki looked back to see that the lava was following them. He was going to tell Moltres to go up, but Moltres angled its body but it was clear Moltres was starting to get weak from all the energy being used. Aki took a breath and gathered a bit of Moltres' fire before forcing it away from them to the rocket while Moltres used a Fire Blast to weaken the top soil enough that they could burst through followed by a stream of lava that went into the water and quickly turned to steam.

"That fool really did it." Tsubasa said as she watched Aki and Moltres quickly descend to the ground. Just as Moltres landed, Aki hopped off and the bird collapsed with exhaustion. "I can't believe you would be reckless enough to attempt a move like that and get away with it." She said and wiped away tears of joy before hugging him.

"Well, guess we all had to save the world with our birds." Yuki said as he hugged Aki as well.

"Yep, I couldn't let you two have all the action." Aki grinned and the moment he put his arms around his friend's shoulders, he collapsed feeling just as exhausted as Moltres felt. "I suddenly feel like I could sleep for a week." He joked tiredly as they walked back to the Pokécenter which took a long time because everyone wanted to congratulate Aki and thank him for saving their island.

"About time you woke up." Blaine said as Aki opened his eyes. "I was just about to leave and come back later."

Aki sat up. "I feel like I slept for a week alright." He chuckled and stretched, several bones popping as well. "What can I do for you Blaine?"

"I wanted to give you this for your bravery." Blaine held out the Volcano Badge and put it into Aki's hand. "You really helped all of us and we are in your debt."

"Thank you but I can't accept this. I was hoping to have a four-on-four fire match with you for the badge."

"Even after I gave it to you for free?"

"Yep. I wouldn't mind having the battle right now… well, when I get dressed." Aki admitted and set the badge on the table beside him.

"Morning Aki, Blaine." Yuki said as they hurried into the room and turned the TV on. "Sorry, but you guys have to see this." He said before either of them could say anything.

On the TV a woman stood behind the Pokémon Master Podium with the caption "Pokémon Master Pixie" towards the bottom of the screen. "Good morning to all. My name is Pixie. I battled Ash Ketchum and we agreed that I would gain the title if I won. For my first order of business, I am declaring any and all Pokémon battles to be illegal and if anyone is caught battling, they will be arrested for violating the official Pokémon League rules." Yuki turned off the TV as the news bulletin went off.

"You're kidding?" Aki questioned. "Please say this is a joke."

"We don't think it is. This arrived for you Blaine." Tsubasa handed him an envelope with Blaine's name and the official Pokémon league seal on it. Blaine sighed and opened it before reading the letter.

"Sadly, they aren't joking. I'm to dispose of the badges and lock the doors to the gym." Blaine said the sadness evident in his voice.

"But they can't just do that can they?"

"She can. If she made a contract stating that she would become the Pokémon Master if he lost, then it's legal." Tsubasa said as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Normally the Elite Four wouldn't allow this but they answer to that witch."

"Then how are we supposed to complete our goal?"

"We don't. It's over." Yuki said as he looked out the window.

"Who says it's over?" Ami said after changing back between forms and this time she just pulled the sheet from Yuki's and hers bed before tying it around her. "So what if we can't have official Pokémon Battles? Then we just make sure our battles aren't seen."

"So you want us to become criminals?" Aki asked.

"More like anti-heroes." Ami admitted. "Someone needs to stop her and most people are going to be afraid to stand up to her."

"But then we risk being arrested." Tsubasa said. "Not like I have any room to talk though." She added as an after though.

"But isn't the slightest chance of us succeeding enough of a reason for us to keep fighting?" Ami asked and no one had an answer. "Tsubasa, you shouldn't be bothered by all this given your past with Team Rocket. Yuki, I can't believe you wouldn't try to do anything about this. You led the people against Team Chaos in Celadon consequences be damned." She took a breath. "Aki, admittedly I don't know much about Kiiro, but I can't imagine she would want you to give up." Ami looked between the three of them. "Of course, we will become wanted again, but we have to try."

"_When did you become so deep?" _Yuki thought to Ami.

"_Because I love you guys, you most of all of course. But we have to do something about it. Have you made up your mind yet?"_

"_I wish you wouldn't change the subject like that, but I'll tell you when we get back to Pallet Town."_

"_Okay."_

"Alright guys, we need to get a move on." Yuki said out loud as he stood up. "Listen, Aki I figure you want to battle Blaine, but we can come back and do it later. The closer we can get, the better off we will be."

"How do you plan to obtain the last Gym Badge?" Blaine asked.

"We're going to battle right in the open." Yuki said.

"But by doing that, we'll be caught." Aki said.

"True, but all we need is enough time to beat the Gym Leader and then what better way to get to the Pokémon League?"

"There's one problem. Yuki, do you have any idea who the Gym Leader of Viridian City is by chance?" Tsubasa asked and Yuki shook his head. "It's my ex-boss, Giovanni." She let that sink in for a couple of minutes. "You'll never get him to agree to battling in the open and I will be the first to tell you, you don't want to have an underground battle with him."

"Why not?" Yuki asked dreading the answer.

"Because as those types of battles aren't official, he's much more crueler to the point where Pokémon have died. Can you ask your friends to go out in that type of battle and risk their lives?"

"We would." Ami spoke up.

"Except you're not going to be battling." Yuki cut in quickly.

"I figured that as much Yuki. But Tsubasa, all you have to do is explain the situation and let the Pokémon decide for themselves." Ami finished.

"I'm getting too old for this stuff." Blaine said as he stood up. "I'm going to leave as we're suppose to turn anyone in if we hear anything like what you're talking about." He walked over to the door and looked back at them. "Good luck you kids." Then he left the room.

"Alright. I say if we do this, then we're going to be in it all together or not at all." Yuki said as he put his hand in the middle.

"Count me in. This is really nothing different than what I was used to at one point." Tsubasa said and she put her hand on top of Yuki's hand.

"No surprise here." Ami put her hand onto Tsubasa's hand. "I mean if I didn't join you guys then it would have made my pep talk pointless." She giggled a little.

"I'd rather not be anti-heroes, but I just can't stand the idea of never having a Pokémon battle ever again. Count me in as well." Aki said as he put his hand onto Ami's hand.

"Alright. We'll get to Pallet Town. There we should be able to use one of our rooms or Professor Oak's lab to plan how we want to proceed. Either way, we are the only ones that we can trust if what Blaine said is true."

Giovanni growled. Not that he would ever admit it out loud but Pixie had a good plan and since most trainers wouldn't risk being thrown in jail, there wouldn't be anyone to oppose her. Still, he wasn't too worried since he much preferred the underground battles anyway. Reaching onto his desk he pushed a button. "Prepare my underground battle arena." He said and got a confirmation from another Rocket member. He was about to lean back into his seat when his monitor lit up. "Well, well, well. What a pleasant surprise Tsubasa."

"Hello Giovanni." Tsubasa said. "Don't worry I'll save you the trouble of tracing this call, we're at Cinnabar island currently. I was calling because of the new rules that all trainers have to abide by and I have a proposition for you."

Giovanni smirked. "Alright, what is this proposition?"

"I've worked under you long enough to know how you think and you want Pixie out of the way so you can control the Elite Four. Which also explains why you've been manipulating Ash."

"That's correct." He reached down and scratched Persian's head.

"As it stands, you want me either dead or under your control. Yuki and Aki need one more badge to be able to get into the Pokémon League. And last I checked, you still hold the final badge needed." Tsubasa paused for a moment. "You agree to letting them battle you in an underground battle without seriously injuring their Pokémon and letting them advance in order to take out Pixie." Tsubasa wrote something down but made sure Giovanni couldn't see it.

"And what do I gain from this? Besides having an annoying thorn in my side removed?"

"Me. I will rejoin your ranks and my loyalty will never waiver again, you may even brainwash me if you want."

"Interesting proposition. But why should I take you back after you betrayed Team Rocket?"

"Because as it stands I am the second strongest trainer in your organization. I know Ash is out and both Junichi and Nobuko are still weaker than me. Plus, after defeating Pixie, I will have the title of Pokémon Master." She pulled out one of her Ultraballs and showed it to him. "Inside this ball is Zapdos. A Legendary Pokémon to serve you."

"Alright. I accept your proposition." Giovanni said before he cut the video feed.

"Alright. I accept your proposition." The screen went dark and Tsubasa leaned back in her chair and gave a heavy sigh of relief. "That was nerve wracking." She said and put Zapdos' Ultraball back onto her belt.

"You're crazier that Aki was." Yuki said. "You really are going to give yourself up?"

"I gave him my word and I'm going to keep it in the end." She replied calmly and it was clear that Yuki was upset.

"Whatever. Let's just get going." Yuki left the room while Tsubasa smirked.


	17. Chapter 17

Three flying type Pokémon took to the sky; Aki on his Charizard, Tsubasa on her Fearow, and Vaporeon and Yuki on Pidgeot. For the most part, they flew in silence as two of them were upset with how things turned out and the third didn't want to risk either of their wraths.

"Look, home sweet home." Aki said after about an hour of flying and sure enough, Pallet Town could be seen but what was surprising was that the entire town seemed to be expecting them as they were standing on the ground waving and cheering for them with Aki' and Yuki's mothers along with Professor Oak waiting in the front.

"Welcome home you three." Professor Oak greeted them as they touched down.

"Grandfather, we need to speak to you privately when we can." Tsubasa whispered into his ear while the other two were being hugged every second and Professor Oak nodded.

"You wanted to see me Pixie?" Former Pokémon Master Ash said as he entered the office that used to belong to him.

"Yes, I want you to contact Giovanni for me." Pixie said as she looked up at Ash. "I know you can so don't try bluffing your way out."

Ash didn't want to but he had no choice but to obey and he did as he was asked.

"Hello Giovanni."

"Pixie, I barely recognized you." Giovanni said with a not too pleasant smile.

"I'm going to let that slide this time. Your pal, Ash, was kind enough to connect me to you so we can negotiate a fair deal."

"Let me hear it." Giovanni sighed and wondered how many more proposals he would have to listen to before the day was out.

"I just propose that we become partners-in-crime. I control the Pokémon League, you have the man power. Between our two minds, we could have whatever we want and no one, not even the police, could stand in our way."

"How many of my men will you need?"

"I would like to say enough to replace all my men that were killed by yours, roughly 334 and a half."

"How did you get a half of a person?"

"One was a midget."

"Right. So 335 men then?"

"Correct. But I know you have many more, so I want double that number."

"670 in total. I can do that. When do you want them by?"

"I would like them today if possible."

"Then they will be there by tomorrow for sure, complete with Team Chaos uniforms." Giovanni promised.

"Thank you. It was pleasure doing business with you." Pixie said before she cut the connection before picking up the phone and punching in a long number. "I want all available Team Chaos followers to report to me at the Pokémon League soon as possible." She said before handing up the phone and leaning back.

"What's the point of taking Team Rocket if you have your own?" Ash asked, feeling slightly unsettled by this.

"Dear boy." Pixie got up and caressed his face. "It's because I'm going to have my men infiltrate Team Rocket." She smiled sweetly before smacking him across the face. "WOLF! Take this boy to the dungeon and lock him up." Wolf came in and bowed before grabbing Ash.

"Wait, there's a dungeon here?"

"There is now." Pixie laughed as Ash was dragged away.

"So that's pretty much the plan Professor." Yuki said, having omitted the part about Tsubasa turning herself into Giovanni when it was done.

"I see. You kids are taking a really big risk here. I will be able to provide you a blue print of the Pokémon League but don't plan anything here. You'll have to do it at one of your houses." Professor Oak said and handed them a book light. "This is a sensor that will disrupt all listening devices. It's quite useful and I say that from personal experience."

Yuki took the book light and held up his Pokéwatch. "Do you think you might be able to repair these? I got lucky last time I really needed it but several times before that it gave me a ton of trouble trying to switch Pokémon."

"Sure. I can do that for you three." Professor Oak took them from the three trainers. "I'll have them done when I bring the blue prints."

"Thanks professor." Yuki said before they left and they didn't speak until they arrived at Yuki's house.

"I hate the idea of bringing Grandfather into this mess." Tsubasa said as she sat on Yuki's bed.

"I agree. I'd rather have not said anything but we need his help." Yuki replied as he set up the book light device and turned it on.

"So now we just wait?" Aki asked "At least for now."

"How about we play Mario kart?" Yuki suggested. "I still have the original Nintendo 64 version." They spent the rest of the day playing Mario Kart until Professor Oak came over for Dinner where they had pizza and a welcome home cake.

The next two days passed as the group planned their moves. Delia Ketchum had visited and they had to re assure her that Ash was still around and if she detected that they were lying, she didn't say anything about it.

"Tsubasa, why don't I give you a tour around Pallet Town." Aki said as the sun started to set on the third day. "I think we're going to have plenty of light tonight with the full moon being out."

"Sure, no offense Yuki, but I'm tired to looking at your room." Tsubasa said as she stood up and stretched.

"No offense taken. "I'll see you to the door." Yuki said as he left Ami in the room alone. It had gotten to the point where she switched between Pokémon and human every hour so they had to make sure she remained hidden in his room.

"So we're alone?" Ami asked as Yuki entered his room and once the door was closed, she came out of the closet revealing that she was wearing nothing.

"Yep. Mom is visiting some friends, Aki and Tsubasa are going to be taking the tour around Pallet Town and I'm not going anywhere." Yuki said as he sat on the bed while Ami sat in his lap and snuggled up to him.

"Are you going to tell me which form you prefer tonight?"

"I am. Are you ready to hear my answer?"

"I am."

"Ami, I love you no matter which form you are in. That being said, I would rather you being a Vaporeon."

"Really? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad about that but what made you decide that?

"Because you were a Vaporeon when we admitted our love for each other."

"But aren't you worried about what other people will think of you?"

Yuki shook his head and when she changed from her human form to her Vaporeon form, he kissed her tenderly and thought that clothes were such a bother.

"So that pretty much wraps up the tour of Pallet Town." Aki said as they reached his house, having started from the other side and worked their way back.

"Yeah, that's great." Tsubasa replied with a bored look.

"Hey girl, what's wrong?"

"I was just trying to figure out what form Ami is going to end up as."

"Huh? Oh that! I completely forgot about it. That's tonight right?" Aki asked and Tsubasa nodded. "What do you think?"

"Given what I've seen, I'm going to say Vaporeon. What about you?"

"Oh I'm going to just wait and see and find out the next time we see them."

"That's not fair. You can't ask for an opinion and then not give your own." Tsubasa slapped him on the arm.

"I only asked, I didn't say you had to give me your opinion." Aki said as he rubbed his arm where she punched him.

"Prepare for trouble." Nobuko said.

"And make it double." Junichi said

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all our people within our nation!"

"To announce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Nobuko!"

"Junichi!

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Neko, that's right!" Neko finished.

"It's Team Rocket!" Aki called out when they finished. "What do you want this time?"

"We've come for both of you." Junichi announced. "And since you can use Pokémon, you might as well come with us quietly."

"Just because we can't use Pokémon doesn't mean we're defenseless." Tsubasa declared.

"Oh really? And how do you intend to stop us?" Nobuko asked.

"Simple. Like this." Aki said as he willed fire to gather around his hands while Tsubasa sent out Fearow before merging with her Pokémon. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Yeah, I thought about it a few seconds ago and decided to give it a try." Tsubasa said. Her body remained mostly the same but she gained Fearow's wings, her pants changed to match Fearow's tail designed to appear as a skirt, her left hand was encompass by a sharp beak and her hair had one strip of auburn appear right down the center.

"What the hell?" Neko said after he picked his jaw up from the ground.

"We didn't prepare for this possibility. Perhaps a quick retreat would be good idea for now?" Nobuko asked Junichi.

"Nonsense. They most likely don't know how to use those powers."

"Then how about me?" Yuki said as he and Vaporeon appeared next to Aki. "I assure you, I _know_ how to use my powers."

Junichi laughed. "That's good and all; it saves us the trouble of trying to find you." Shadow clones, come fourth!" At Junichi's command, a perfect replica of Yuki, Aki, and Tsubasa came forward, minus the changes of Tsubasa and Aki's body. "Have fun defeating yourselves."

Tsubasa took to the sky while the shadow Tsubasa used the shadows to grow a pair of wings and fly after her.

Shadow Aki thrusted out its hand and threw a Shadow Ball mixed with flames at Aki, who countered with his own fireball. Then he used a bit of fire to make a flaming sword and that's when his battle started.

Shadow Yuki looked puzzled at the fact that Yuki didn't seem to display any special powers it could copy. Yuki charged in towards his shadow clone while charging up a Psybeam and letting it fly towards the Shadow Yuki, who countered with a Shadow Ball.

"So, it's going to be Psychic against Shadow." Yuki commented as he and Shadow Yuki battled while Vaporeon provided assistance by using attacking the Shadow Yuki whenever it tried to launch an attack until she was hit by a Shadow Water Gun. Looking in the direction the attack came from, she saw a Shadow Vaporeon stilling straight up with its tail around its paws.

The four were beaten around more than a few times when a particular hard kick from Shadow Tsubasa sent Tsubasa crashing into Aki and the force was enough to send them across the ground where they met up with Yuki and Vaporeon coming from the opposite direction.

"If anyone has a brilliant plan to stopping them, now would be a good time to say it." Aki said as the four Shadow beings came for them.

"Hold on!" Yuki shouted before he teleported them back to the lab. The moment they landed, Tsubasa and Fearow split into human and Pokémon respectively before Professor Oak came running to see what the ruckus was.

"What happened to you four?" Professor Oak asked.

"We got our asses kicked… by Shadows… right?" Tsubasa asked as she wasn't quite sure what they were attacked by.

"Either way, let's get you fixed up and see if we can find out what you were attacked by." Professor Oak said as he and his assistances helped them to stand up.

Ash sat in the darkest corner of the cell he had been assigned to. "When did everything go wrong?" He asked the empty air and he had a good idea where but he just didn't really want to face it. He heard a soft scuttling sound and he perked his head up but seeing nothing until he heard the noise again. Without warning, Pikachu's head popped up. "AH! Oh PIKACHU!" Ash said a bit loudly as he got up and ran over to the door. "You okay buddy?"

Pikachu nodded happily and held up the keys to the cell before disappearing and unlocking the cell.

"Thanks buddy." Ash said as Pikachu jumped into his arms and it was then when he noticed that Pikachu also held onto his Pokébelt. After quickly putting it back on, he grabbed the bill of his hat and turned it 180 degrees dramatically before calling on Charizard. Within seconds, he was free and once more back in the open sky. "Now, to put my plan into motion." He pulled out his cell phone and began dialing a number.

"I wonder if we were fast enough with our information?" Misty asked as she snuggled against Gary's shoulder.

"I think we would have been." Gary replied. "The actual question should be if we gave Yuki enough time to make a decision or not." Misty was going to say something but Gary's phone rang and he looked at it. "Sorry sweetheart. I have to take this." Getting up from the couch, he went into the gym and closed the door. "This better be good Ash." He growled.

"Gary, please just hear me out." Ash said from the other side of the phone with the sound of the wind rushing past his words. "I'm no longer the Pokémon Master and I need help."

"Why should we help you?"

"Well, it's not exactly about helping me. I want to get Pixie away from being the Pokémon Master."

"And why couldn't you do it right now?"

"Because I was stupid. I tried but I failed."

Gary was surprised to hear that Ash admitted that but choose not to call him on it. "Alright. I'll listen but I'm not going to make any guarantees."

"Thanks Gary. I want to assemble all 8 Gym Leaders to team up with the Elite Four to take Pixie down."

"Ash, you do realize that Giovanni is the eighth leader right? He'll never go for it."

"Yes he will. He doesn't want Pixie in that position at all so he'll go along with that if it'll help him."

Gary sighed. "Alright Ash, I promise to pass it along to Misty, but don't expect this to make things better between the two of you."

"I know."

With that, Gary ended the call and went back into the living.

"Who was that?" Misty asked as Gary sat down with a heavy sigh.

"That was Ash. He wants our help."

"Ash. I thought I told you not to call here." Brock said as he held his phone with his shoulder while holding a mixing bowl in one hand and using a wooden spoon to mix the ingredients.

"I know Brock, but I need your help."

Brock sighed and put the bowl down before stepping outside the kitchen. He was still sore with Ash but they had promised to at least listen to the other's troubles when they really needed it. "Alright. What's the trouble this time?"

"Professor, you don't realize how embarrassing it was, getting our butts kicked by our own Shadows." Aki explained.

"I heard you the first time." Professor Oak said as he sat at his computer and typed away. "As far as I can tell, they would need some of your DNA in order to create them but how would they have gotten your DNA?"

"I opened a few doors with my bare hands in Seafoam Islands." Yuki said. "Vaporeon could have been from any time she was captured since it took us a couple of days."

"Then what about ours?" Tsubasa asked as she looked at Aki, who could only shrug.

"What about the documents we touched at the ruined mansion?" Aki suggested but it seemed unlikely.

"Well, how are we going to defeat them if we can have our Pokémon fighting alongside of us?"

"Vaporeon seemed to do well." Tsubasa pointed out.

"But we were lucky that it happened at night… hang on… we fought them at night." Yuki said as he looked at Professor Oak, who seemed to have the same thought based on the light in his eyes.

"Hang on a second." Professor Oak said as he took out a pen and drew a shape. "What does this look like to you?"

"It's a yin-yang." Tsubasa replied.

"Correct. One this side, we have you three." Professor Oak pointed to the white side. "And on this side, we have your Shadow counterparts." He pointed to the dark side of the circle.

"So we have light versus shadow." Aki began.

"If you wanted to get out of the sunlight, what would you do?" Yuki asked his companions.

"I would move into the shade." Aki replied and then it hit him. "I got it, in order to get away from the shade; we would step into the sunlight."

"So then we just need to flood the area with light." Tsubasa finished and Yuki nodded.

"If it's okay with Professor Oak, I'd like to set up around here with the fall back point being my room and the secondary fall back point being Aki's room."

"It's fine with me. Just let me know what I need to do to help." Professor Oak said with a smile.

That night, things seemed quiet in Pallet Town as Yuki, Vaporeon, Tsubasa and Aki walked around. If anyone asked, they were enjoying a nightly stroll around the place that two of the teens called home.

"_They're here."_ Vaporeon told Yuki when she sensed their Shadow counterparts approaching them. Yuki didn't say anything but he scratched his ear to alert the others. During the afternoon, they determined that they wouldn't use their abilities when there could be folks watching them and that meant they would just be doing the fighting the old fashion way.

Without warning, they were shoved to the ground while their Shadow counterparts appeared several feet a head of them.

"Vaporeon, go." Yuki muttered and Vaporeon ran into some bushes while the three stood up. "Are you sure you don't want to give in?" He took a defensive pose.

"Because if you do now, then we'll allow you to fade away." Aki said as he took on a defensive pose.

"But if you don't surrender, then we'll have to beat you down until you do." Tsubasa said and when she took her defensive pose, she stood much like a bird. Behind them, an explosion went off with a blue cloud behind Yuki, a red cloud behind Aki and a yellow cloud behind Tsubasa.

Shadow Yuki rolled its eyes and motioned for the other two to attack but when they were almost at their light counterparts, several blinding search lights lit up the area and caused them to stop in their tracks. As a result of being severed to the shadows, they disappeared but there was a small paper person in the center that remained visible with string tied to it.

"Now, let's kick their shadowy asses." Aki said as he snapped his fingers to create a spark before blowing on it and turning the spark into a Flamethrower to fry the paper dolls. But without warning, the lights shattered and the area was covered with shadows again.

"Nice try. You have freed us. Now we aren't bound to you." Shadow Yuki voiced.

"Yeah but you're still bound to us." Yuki replied. "I accept my shadow as being the darker side of me, the side I don't want others to see." It was cheesy alright, but Shadow Yuki cried out before disappearing and merging back in with Yuki. "Alright, I got it under control." He said after a minute of everyone, both shadow and light, watching in amazement.

"Does it hurt?" Aki asked.

"No, I just feel a bit darker than before, but after what we've been through, I also feel like I got a missing piece of me back." Yuki explained the best he could. "Sorry, you'll just have to feel it for yourself." The other two shadow beings tried to escape but Yuki used the shadows to pin them long enough to have the shadow merge back with the light.

"I suddenly feel cold." Aki whined as he rubbed his arms for a few minutes until he stopped. "Alright, I'm good."

Tsubasa couldn't help but to laugh loud and out of control. "Yes, this is the power I need to make sure those two don't ever take my spot from me in the Team Rocket ranks." She smirked darkly. "Sorry, unlike the other two, I'm not going to be subdued that easily." But the shadow Tsubasa's victory was short lived as the real Tsubasa regained control.

"Sorry guys, I just let the power rush in." Tsubasa said sheepishly. "But I'm okay now. I promise." She gave them a friendly smile while Vaporeon came out from hiding.

"_That was without a doubt, the most cheesiest thing I've ever witnessed." _Vaporeon told Yuki.

"_Yeah, but it worked and that is all that matters in the end."_ Yuki replied. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry now."

"Same here." The other two agreed as they headed into the lab to make some food for themselves.

"Does anyone else think that the whole thing was kind of easy?" Tsubasa asked after a few minutes of eating.

"A little bit." Aki muttered. "But I'll take easy over hard any day."

That night while they slept, three shadows detached themselves from their light counterparts and slipped off into the night sky.

"Suddenly I'm wondering if this is a good idea after all." Yuki said as they walked towards the Viridian City Gym.

"Yuki! This was your whole idea!" Tsubasa said as she couldn't believe that he might back out after being the one behind the planning.

"I know, I know." Yuki replied as Aki tried the door knob though it was locked.

"Suppose we try the door bell?" Aki suggested after a moment and pushed the button in but instead of making any sound, a trap door opened under them and they took a short slide down underground before landing on a large soft cushion.

"Well, that was fun." Aki commented as they got off the cushion and started walking down the hallway. Thankfully this led to a large room with a battle arena and Giovanni was the only one standing there.

"Welcome young trainers. I am Giovanni, the Leader of Team Rocket and of the Viridian City Gym." Giovanni said once the trainers were close. "I will use three Pokémon, you may use however many you wish to use and because this is an underground battle, you may team up against me."

"Giovanni, you talk too much." Yuki said when he finally had a chance. "I have mine already chosen." He sent out Haunter, and Kadabra.

"We're going to take you down for sure." Aki said as he sent out Dragonite and Alakazam.

"Very well. Come fourth my Pokémon!" Giovanni said as a Rhydon and a Nidoking came fourth. "The only rule is that there are no rules in this battle. The winner is decided by at least one Pokémon still standing.

"Hang on; I'm joining you guys as well." Tsubasa said as a Rapidash and Cloyster came out, on Giovanni's side of the field.

"What? WHY ARE YOU HELPING HIM?" Aki and Yuki shouted.

"Because I'm rejoining him and figured now would be a good time to start." Tsubasa said coldly.

"Smart choice, Tsubasa." Giovanni laughed. "You may wish to surrender now to avoid the embarrassment of losing your Pokémon."

"We're not giving up now!" Yuki declared. "Haunter, Kadabra, go!" He ordered and the four-on-four battle began. "Tsubasa, you're going down with him."

"Try it Yuki, you have to beat our Pokémon first." Tsubasa taunted.

From another part of the underground lab, Mewtwo opened his eyes. _I feel the trainer. He is close by. Was I wrong about it breaking his promise? Has he come to free me from this evil man?"_ There was a warning sound and the tubes holding Mewtwo down detached from the armor before he was enveloped in a black sphere. "I am never coming back here again." He declared to the empty room before the sphere closed completely.

"Cloyster, use Ice Beam." Tsubasa called out and Cloyster shout the freezing cold beam before it hit Rhydon in the back.

"What are you doing?" Giovanni rounded on Tsubasa and growled.

"Helping my friends." Tsubasa replied as she held up two Earth Badges. "You're a fool to think I would rejoin you. They opened my eyes and I'd rather die than give up what I learned."

Giovanni smirked. "Then you can die along with them." He pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger several times, only to see Tsubasa wasn't there anymore. Looking to the other side of the arena, he saw Tsubasa next to Yuki.

"Why are you saving her Yuki? After all that she did to us?" Aki asked.

"Oh she never betrayed us." Yuki replied as he and Tsubasa looked at each other and smiled.

_FLASHBACK_

"You're crazier that Aki was." Yuki said. "You really are going to give yourself up?"

"I gave him my word and I'm going to keep it in the end." She replied calmly and pointed to what she had written down. The note read: I have no plans to team up with Team Rocket ever again.

"Whatever. Let's just get going." Yuki left the room and he had to make sure to remove the grin from his face before Aki saw it.

_END FLASHBACK_

"It was the only way for sure." Tsubasa finished explaining before looking at Giovanni. "Too bad for you. Now it's six against two."

"It matters not. I'm calling forth my ultimate Pokémon." Giovanni announce as the floor opened up beside him and the armored Mewtwo came up. "You fools should have ran while you had the chance, now it's time to say good bye to your Pokémon and your lives."

"Mewtwo!" Yuki shouted. "Listen, you don't want to be with him."

"You don't know the power of the armor, _I_ must obey my Master." Mewtwo replied and held up his hand while the sixth Pokémon was surrounded by a purple light and slammed against the wall behind the trainers. "If you had kept your promise and freed me earlier, I might have joined you."

"I didn't know where you were before today Mewtwo." Yuki shouted back and tried to recall his Pokémon but Mewtwo's energy field prevented him from saving the Pokémon. "I tried, every time we hit a town I scanned for your energy and could never find it."

"All lies." Giovanni countered. "Mewtwo, destroy them now."

"Yes Master." Mewtwo said and made the energy field shrink around the six helpless Pokémon, only to find that he was meeting some kind of resistance. "Who dares to challenge me?"

"I do." Yuki growled through gritted teeth as he kept the energy field from shrinking. "You gave me a part of your powers and I'm going to use them to free you from Giovanni's control." With a cry, he shattered the energy field and the Pokémon slid to the floor before quickly being recalled.

"Then you and I shall have a battle alone." Mewtwo announced.

"I'm only battling you with my friends by my side." Yuki said as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead as he panted a little from the amount of energy he had to exert against Mewtwo and the training he received from Sabrina helped a little.

Mewtwo growled before charging up a Psybeam and blasting it straight up before following the opening he created.

"Yuki, Giovanni's gone." Aki announced.

"We'll get him later; right now we have to free Mewtwo." Yuki said as he switched one of his Pokémon for Articuno and summoned it while Tsubasa summoned Zapdos and Aki summoned Moltres before they flew out of the hole and after Mewtwo.

"So you decided to follow me?" Mewtwo asked as he saw the three Legendary Birds, each with a human on them.

"That's right Mewtwo." Tsubasa said. "We're going to free you from Giovanni's control, just like these guys did to me."

"I welcome you to try." Mewtwo challenged and attacked them. Playing the numbers to their advantage, they made sure that one would always disrupt Mewtwo when he attacked. "I grow tired of this game." He said after about ten minutes of this and used his abilities to freeze Aki and Tsubasa in mid-air before crossing his arms in front of him and causing the two trainers to collide with Articuno. Mewtwo smirked only to find that instead of the birds and trainers falling, a new bird floated in place. It had Articuno's coloring, Zapdos' wings crackling with electricity, and Moltres' flames dancing across its body.

"Mind if I ask where we are?" Yuki asked as he looked around and Vaporeon nipped his ear from her spot on his shoulders. He eventually saw the other two and they each wore a robe in the color of the Legendary Bird they had caught except for Vaporeon who was still the way she was.

"I would say we might be inside the fusion of the three birds." Aki said as he too looked around.

"I'd normally say that would be stupid but I can't come up with anything better." Tsubasa said. "So I guess we need to work together if we don't want to lose."

"Alright. Let's take that helmet off Mewtwo." Yuki said and the other three agreed.

"So, you think that mismatched bird will be enough to stop me?" Mewtwo asked. "Very well then." Mewtwo started battling the combined might of the Legendary Birds with the match being in a stalemate until the trio fired off a Tri-beam and it managed to hit the helmet though it only clipped it.

"Alright. It's a start at least." Yuki said as they cheered.

"Guys, I have an idea." Aki said as he formulated a plan.

Mewtwo dodged another attack and turned only to see Zapdos flying back towards him so this time he used his powers to stop all of the birds at the same time but soon felt a human on his back.

"I said I would rescue you Mewtwo and I'll be damned if I don't keep my word." Yuki said before mind melding with Mewtwo.

For several seconds, Mewtwo remained motionless while he and Yuki fought for control of the Pokémon's body but slowly Yuki forced Mewtwo's hands up to the helmet and with a cry of determination, forced the helmet off Mewtwo's head in time to have it catch a Thunderbolt from Zapdos, Flamethrower from Moltres and Ice Beam from Articuno and it shattered the helmet.

"What… What happened to me?" Mewtwo asked just as Yuki was forcibly ejected from Mewtwo and fell towards the Earth but he was saved in plenty of time by Aki. Mewtwo floated down while the trainers were recalling their Legendary Birds before using recover to awaken Yuki. "Thank you for saving me. Whenever you need me, just call on me and I will find you." He said before taking to the sky and flying above the clouds and out of sight.

"That was fun." Tsubasa commented once Mewtwo was gone.

"Yeah, if we ever have to have save another Pokémon, I think I'll watch from the sidelines." Aki said as they started walking towards the Pokémon League.

"With the exception of Giovanni, we're all here." Koga said as he appeared from nowhere. In the secret room that Ash had discovered on his journeys, Brock, Misty, and Gary stood in one corner. Sabrina and Erika stood in another corner. Lt. Surge was playing a children card game against Blaine and saying "…IN AMERICA" at the end of his sentences. Koga meanwhile was conversing with his daughter but when Ash called their attention, the room quieted down.

"I know I've made a several mistakes in the past." Ash began. "But I was originally hoping to be able to take down Team Rocket from the inside but I became blinded by the power. But now, I realized that I shouldn't have lost track of what was really important to me, that is, my friends and everyone that stood behind me all this time." He took a breath and looked around the room at the others. "I want us to stand as a united front in order to battle Pixie and Team Chaos. After that, I'm stepping down from being the Pokémon Master."

"You can't really mean you're going to." Blaine said as he looked up from the card he had been about to play. "You can't let one bad thing be the reason you're going to stop being the Pokémon Master.

"Seriously Ash." Misty said softly, being the first set of words she had spoken to him since he had tried to arrest Tsubasa. "This has been your dream ever since I fished you out of the river. So I can't accept it if you're just give up now."

"Misty… Thanks." Ash said for he was touched that she would still support him at least on a professional level.

"So then Ash, when do we strike?" Gary asked as he looked up from a file he had been holding. "If we're going to do anything, we should do it soon."

"Agreed." Ash replied and he unrolled a map of the Pokémon League and they started planning their move.

The trio and Vaporeon soon came to a cave with a sign next to the entrance reading Victory Road. "I have to admit, there are strong Pokémon in here." Tsubasa warned as they stepped in and thankfully they weren't assaulted by Zubats. They mostly walked in silence but when they went to the next floor, they had to run from several Golbats and they turned out to be much more persistent than its pre-evolution form.

"Geez, why do we have to be assaulted by every single Zubat and Golbat that we walk through a cave?" Aki asked as he had Charizard fry one Zubat to a crisp and it seemed to keep them away for a while.

"They're just looking for food." Tsubasa said matter of factly.

"I know, but can't they go bug someone else for once?" Aki asked while recalling Charizard.

"You would have think we would have learned to stock up on some max repels by now." Yuki said as he found a rock and sat down on it. "Let's take a break and make a fire down here and have some lunch."

"You won't have any arguments from me." Aki said as brought out the last of the wood they had packed from an earlier part of the journey and this time the Pokémon stayed away from the bright light.

"I have an idea; why not take the torches with us?" Aki suggested after five minutes of a quiet resting.

"I can't see why not." Tsubasa agreed while they stood up.

"Um, guys, when exactly did your shadows get longer?" Yuki asked but it turned out he didn't need to ask as their shadows came to life already with the transformations complete.

"You were right." Shadow Tsubasa told them. "There wouldn't be any way that we would allow you to absorb us that easily."

"We only allowed you to so we could read your minds." Shadow Yuki continued with a smirk on his face.

"And down here, we are the masters." Shadow Aki finished. "You stand no chance of beating us."

"We'll see about that!" Yuki exclaimed as he and Vaporeon stared down their Shadow Counterparts.

"Moltres, come out." Aki said as he released his Legendary bird and felt the fire spread through him even before climbing onto Moltres' back.

"Fearow, I choose you!" Tsubasa said with a grin as her favorite flying Pokémon came out from the Pokéball. "Fusion evolution!" Touching Fearow, her outfit changed once more as hers and Fearow's spirits merged together.

"Despite the odds against us, the light will always triumph." Yuki stated before looking at Tsubasa and Aki. "Ready to be rid of them once and for all?" He asked and the other two nodded.

"Heh, this will be amusing." Shadow Yuki said. "But do you think you can't defeat an entire army?" He asked the lights while multiple shadow copies emerged all around them. "Just try, I guarantee this will mark your defeat."

"LET'S GO!" Aki shouted and the small group charged their Shadow Counterparts. For every Shadow clone they struck down, two more took its place but they fought the best they could but it was clear they were outnumbered and it only became painstakingly clear when they were pressed against a cave wall with the Shadows closing in on them.

"What do you think we can do?" Tsubasa asked as she supported herself against the wall.

"What about Mewtwo?" Aki asked as he used his remaining energy to stay standing, even Moltres looked like it would faint after too long.

"_Mewtwo, we could use your help."_ Yuki thought and really hoped Mewtwo got his message as he could hear the Shadows charging their attacks. He guessed that Mewtwo was too far away but the attacks from the Shadow Counterparts never connected as Mewtwo phased them from sight.

"I told you that I would help you whenever you needed it." Mewtwo said calmly.

"But how can we defeat our own shadows?" Yuki asked as he stood next to Mewtwo.

"I wish I didn't have to ask this, but I will require all three of your abilities if I'm to take them down."

Yuki, Aki, and Tsubasa all felt a cold chill go down their spines at that mention. They hadn't fully gotten used to them but at the same time they weren't quite ready to just give them up so soon after discovering them.

"What about my mental connection to Ami?" Yuki asked.

"I honestly don't know." Mewtwo said, sounding sad.

"I rather not give them away, but I will." Tsubasa said as she and Fearow separated before concentrating on her abilities.

"Moltres, thank you." Aki replied calmly before concentrating on his connection that he shared with Moltres.

"Do you best Mewtwo." Yuki said as he closed his eyes and recalled the bond that he shared with Mewtwo. _"Ami, even if we can't communicate, I'll still always love you."_

"_I don't think we need words to fully communicate Yuki, but I will still love you no matter what."_

"I promise to." Mewtwo before pulling the energies of thunder, fire, and water from their respective user and once he had their energies, his eyes blazed blue before he launched his counter-attack. The Shadows tried to fight Mewtwo, but they were soon destroyed under the combined energy forces however the teens didn't get long to celebrate as Mewtwo teleported all of them to a clearing not too far from the Pokémon League.

As it was dark when they found another clearing and built a small fire and ate a small supper. "Thanks for your help Mewtwo." Yuki said when they finished eating.

"You are welcome." Mewtwo replied as he looked to the starry sky. "I must leave you for now but I will return before too long." They bid him bye and safe journey before Mewtwo took to the sky and was soon out of sight.

"Since we're close, why don't we take turns keeping watch tonight?" Tsubasa suggested and Aki offered to take the first watch, however all four were soon asleep and thankfully, they weren't disturbed. What they didn't realize was that they slept for an entire day and when they woke up, it was night once more.

After making breakfast, they made sure to leave nothing to show people were there, and then they continued on their way. They were nearing the gates when a beam of light headed for them and they quickly hid behind a few bushes as a Team Chaos grunt came into sight. He was joined by another guard carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

"Any reason why we have to patrol during the night?" Grunt 1 asked the other.

"Yeah, the official reason is that Pokémon trainers are forbidden to have Pokémon matches."

"Exactly, so what's the point of patrolling if they can't have the matches required to come here and enter the Indigo Plateau?"

"Because shut up. Continue your rounds." The second grunt told the first and they both disappeared.

"So how are we supposed to get in if the gate is locked?" Aki asked after making sure they wouldn't be over heard.

"I think I've found our ticket in." Tsubasa pointed to the other side of the road where rope and hooks laid on the ground under a sign that read "conveniently placed climbing equipment." With a glance at each other, they snuck over and grabbed the stuff before hiding once more. "If we can't get through the front, why not through the top?" She suggested and it was clear what her plan was as they made their way cautiously forward. Reaching the side of the building, Yuki, Vaporeon, and Aki kept watch while Tsubasa got the rope ready and with a mighty throw, she managed to get the hook over the top of the building and she gave it a couple of tugs.

"Crap!" Aki whispered. "Hide!" They went over to the other side of the shrubberies and waited for the guard to walk by before starting to climb the rope without much trouble and they safely made it over the top in time to avoid getting caught.

"Say, has there always been a rope here?" A grunt asked from below.

"I doubt it." Another grunt replied.

Aki held his breath as he picked up a stone and threw it away from their position, the stone making a loud noise and when the Grunts looked away, Yuki quickly pulled the rope up and out of their sight.

"Say, what happened to the rope dangling here?" the first grunt asked.

"Beats me. I think we're going crazy." They started walking away. "Best not to mention anything about a disappearing rope, otherwise we might get thrown into the loony bin." They were too far to make out much more of the conversation by then.

"Alright, let's keep going." Yuki said softly and the group crept their way to the sky window and he summoned Kadabra and had his Pokémon use the psychic powers to cut a hole into the glass and gently set the glass on the ground. They were just about to descend when Aki stopped them.

"Wait, we need something." Aki stated.

"What do we need now?" Tsubasa hissed.

"One second." Aki said as he messed with his Poké-watch. "There, all set now." Seconds later, the theme song from Mission Impossible began playing and this time they ascended into the Indigo Plato.

"I'm not even going to ask." Yuki said as they touched the floor while Aki turned the music off so they wouldn't attract attention.

"What? You had to admit, it made the descent more interesting." Aki retorted.

"Yeah and thankfully no one heard us." Tsubasa said after smacking Aki in the back of the head.

"Geez, you smack just like Gibbs… probably hard enough too." Aki complained as he massaged the sore spot.

"Quiet you two." Yuki whispered while Vaporeon climbed up and sat across his shoulders. They hid out of sight as a Chaos grunt passed them but he was too involved with reading a manga series to care much about anything out of the ordinary. Once he passed, the four crept along silently until they came to a large room.

"Now what?" Tsubasa asked her voice just above a whisper.

"Let's split up and find Pixie or another Elite Four member." Yuki whispered back, however it was needed as several lights came on, temporarily blinding the group.

"Prepare for trouble." Nobuko said.

"And make it double." Junichi followed

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all our people within our nation!"

"To announce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Nobuko!"

"Junichi!

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Neko, that's right!"

"Of course they would be here." Aki growled and looked to see the Team Rocket trio standing on a platform and they just laughed.

"Of course we would be." Junichi said with a smirk. "After all, we never really got a chance to repay you for the Seafoam Islands."

"Did you really think you could just waltz right in here and get this far without running into anyone?" Nobuko asked.

"Well, yeah." Yuki admitted.

"That's because we ordered the guards to remain out of sight." Nobuko continued and snapped her fingers. Suddenly the group were surrounded by Team Rocket and Chaos guards.

"I've never seen so many at once." Tsubasa stated as she looked around and saw even more in the rafters and on balconies. "Even if we fight, we'll never be able to take out all of them."

"Then you better pray I don't command them to attack." A voice said from the darkness and the figure stepped out to reveal Pixie, along with Alan and Wolf. "It's true, I ordered the guards to remain hidden, otherwise you would have never made it here, but since you're here, we might as well arrest you for battling with Pokémon."

"Bullcrap! We only did it to stay alive!" Aki called out.

"Doesn't matter, the League rules states that any Pokémon battles are prohibited." Pixie smirked. "We sent your shadow counterparts against you, knowing the results."

"To bad they were weak to be defeated by these kids." Alan stated.

"Now, now, don't underestimate the kids Alan." Pixie said as she turned from Alan to the kids. "They have proven to be a challenge." The smile she had on her face turned into a wicked smile. "But now that ends TONIGHT! Grunts, take them to the dungeon!" She ordered and grunts of both Rocket and Chaos moved to grab the group but they stopped when the door slammed opened revealing the eight gym leaders and Ash standing in the front and center with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"This ends now Pixie!" Ash declared and Pixie simply laughed.

"Oh does it? Come and get me first!" Pixie shouted joyously before she turned and ran from the room followed by Wolf and Alan

Ash walked up to the group. "Listen, take a handful of us with you and go after her so she doesn't escape. The rest of us will stay down here and take care of the rest." He fell silent as Pikachu used a Thunder attack to clear a path and the teens started to run for it. "Tsubasa, I'm sorry!" He said after Tsubasa stopped.

"Ash, it'll take time to forgive you." Tsubasa said softly before she ran after her friends and never looking back.

"I know that." Ash muttered silently to himself before turning to look back at the assembled group. "Alright, half of you guys follow them."

"No." Giovanni spoke up. "I will take on the entire group myself." He smirked as Rocket members began pouring into the building as well.

"Fine then, let's move." Ash declared and everyone but Giovanni ran after Yuki, Vaporeon, Aki, and Tsubasa.

Giovanni waited until he was alone amongst the Rocket and Chaos members and he sat down in a chair on Rocket brought him.

"Orders sir?" The Rocket asked.

"Execute order 66." Giovanni said simply and even the Rockets smiled. Then after releasing their Pokémon, they began attacking the Chaos members savagely.


	18. Chapter 18

Ash and the others reached the kids in time to hear Lance say "As much as we don't like this, we are sworn to protect the Pokémon Master."

"But Lance, she's evil." Yuki countered and as much as he didn't want to fight the Elite Four just yet, he would if it came to blows. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he jumped before turning only to find Ash there.

"I'll take them on." Ash said.

"All four of them?" Aki asked thinking it would be suicide for a one-on-four battle, no matter how skilled they were.

"Ash, you aren't alone with this." Brock said as he came up to stand by his long time traveling partner. "I'll help you."

"Thanks Brock." Ash smiled and briefly wondered if they might be able to repair their friendship at some point.

"I'll help as well." Misty spoke as she stepped up to Ash's other side. "I'm not about to let you two go up against them alone."

"Really Misty? I thought you hated me?" Ash questioned.

"Still do Ash, but we were a team once and in spite of everything that might happen, teammates always watch each other's backs."

"The rest of us will push forward." Yuki said and they continued on once the Elite Four members allowed them to pass.

Getting to the third room of the Indigo Plateau, they found the entire room darkened but the lights on the other side of the room came on to reveal Junichi and Nobuko. "Prepare for trouble." Nobuko and Jessie stated at the same time which led to a battle where the Rockets and ex-Rockets attempted to outdo each other with the Team Rocket motto. As they were battling it out, Tsubasa, Gary and Sabrina had set up a judging table and they sat behind it watching.

"Meowth, that's right!" Meowth finished and they looked to the judges panel.

"Thank you for the motto. Let's see how the judges score each." Aki said holding a microphone. "First, the judging of Jessie, James, and Meowth." Sabrina held up a twenty point scorecard. "We have a twenty. Next, Tsubasa, what do you say?" Tsubasa held up an eighteen. "Alright, eighteen points. Now Gary, what about you?" Gary held up a nineteen point five. "A nineteen point five. If my calculations are correct, Jessie, James, and Meowth have fifty-seven point five." Aki said and the rest of the group clapped. "Now, let's see what the judges have to say about Junichi and Nobuko." Tsubasa held up a seventeen, Gary held up an eighteen and Sabrina held up an eighteen. "An eighteen, seventeen, and eighteen. Final score is fifty-three." Above Jessie, James, and Meowth's heads a giant banner came down from the ceiling that had congratulations on it and it settled on their shoulders. "Jessie, James and Meowth are the winners.

"Then we'll just battle it out for the title!" Nobuko declared.

"And we'll just keep going." Yuki said.

"Right, leave them to us." Jessie said as she and James pulled out one Pokéball each. "Get going." As the rest of the group were making their way out, they heard Arbok and Weezing emerge from their Pokéballs.

They found Alan guarding the third room leaning against the wall near the door exiting from the room. "If you please, allow us to stay behind and take him on." A soft female voice spoke and they found the owner of the voice was none other than Erika. "Of course, I would like some assistance as backup please."

"I'll take him out single-handedly, in America." Lt. Surge said as he pulled out a cigar and lit it.

"I will make sure no harm comes to you." Sabrina said as she stepped forward and put a hand onto Erika's shoulder.

"Right, we'll leave this to you three." Yuki said and the remaining number headed for the doorway, being helped by Sabrina using her powers to force Alan away from the door.

Wolf smirked as he heard footsteps and looked up from brushing Ninetales' fur. "So, I see that the others allowed you to get passed them?" He asked.

"Yeah, is there a problem?" Gary asked.

"Not at all. I am an honorable man. I will allow half of you to pass by without any harm." Wolf stood up and stepped to the side. "But be quick and say your good-byes for you'll probably never see each other again."

"Tsubasa, Yuki, Aki, go, we'll deal with him." Gary said before looking at Blaine and Koga.

"Right, you kids keep going. I don't think I can handle anymore running for a while." Blaine said as he leaned on his cane panting slightly.

"Thank you dad." Tsubasa said and she and the guys went on.

"Now, where were we?" Gary asked as he removed the Pokéball from around his next and enlarged it.

"That's far enough Pixie!" Yuki shouted when they saw her in the room where she was surrounded by several portraits of the Elite Four champions and they were surprised when she started laughing.

"That's quite alright. I hadn't planned on going any further than this." She said. "I had planned on battling you here anyhow; I just didn't expect you to get here so soon."

"It helps when you have people to back up." Aki said with a grin. "Of course, it also does help when half of them just let you pass."

"It's because I told Wolf to let you pass, not out of his so-called honor." It was clear the wind was pushed from their sails when she said that. "So, who wants to lose first?"

"We're taking you on as a team." Tsubasa declared.

"Fine with me." Come out my Pokémon!" Pixie shouted and threw six Pokéballs into the air and they activated to reveal Nidoqueen, Jigglypuff, Clefairy, Venonat, Vileplume, and Growlithe.

Aki sent out his Dragonite and Raichu, Tsubasa sent out Starmie and Rapidash while Yuki let Vaporeon join the battle and sending out Haunter.

"Be careful, we don't know what moves her Pokémon have." Yuki warned.

"Then we just have to hit her hard before she can do anything about it." Aki said. "Raichu, Thunderbolt."

"Clefairy, use Metronome." Pixie called out and Clefairy waved her fingers before launching out a Hyper beam which the other Pokémon narrowly avoided the attack.

"Crap, of course she gets lucky with that." Tsubasa said with a huff. "Rapidash, Fire Spin. Starmie, Bubblebeam towards Growlithe" The two Pokémon obeyed their master but the attacks were blocked by Nidoqueen, but a Nightshade covered the area in darkness. When it let up, all of Pixie's Pokémon were sporting some type of damage.

"Jigglypuff, use Sing!" Pixie shouted and Jigglypuff began to sing her song.

"Crap, what are we suppose to do now?" Aki asked as their Pokémon started to slow down since they were beginning to fall asleep. Meanwhile, Yuki was falling asleep due to his connection with Vaporeon

"Does someone have a Pokéflute on them?" Yuki asked as he leaned against Tsubasa while he fought to keep his eyes open. "

"No, we never got one before." Tsubasa replied as she supported Yuki.

"Vaporeon, Water Gun the Jigglypuff." He said and the water attack was weak, but it was enough to knock Jigglypuff off from her singing.

"Starmie, use Water Gun into the air on our side!" Aki commanded and Starmie did so, the water allowing the Pokémon to shake off the sleep. "Now, Dragonite, Hyper Beam. Raichu, Thunder!"

With Yuki awake, he grinned. "Vaporeon, use Hydro Pump. Haunter, use Nightshade!"

"Rapidash, use Fire Blast. Starmie use Hydro Pump!" With the combined power of the six attacks, Pixie's Pokémon were overwhelmed and they soon fell to the power as they hadn't been so luck to recover as quickly from their sleep state. Pixie growled as she recalled her fainted Pokémon.

"It looks like we win Pixie." Yuki stated but Pixie laughed.

"You think you won, but you haven't yet." Pixie replied. "That was just merely a warm-up and to tire your Pokémon out." She reached up to her shoulder and grabbed the sleeve of her shirt and pulled her outfit off to reveal her in a bikini with a pick top and blue bottom.

"Um, that's great and all, but how is ripping off your clothes going to help you?" Tsubasa asked while Aki turned away with a red face.

"Watch and see." Pixie said and held out her arm and for a couple of seconds nothing happened, but then her arm changed into an arm of a Kadabra or Alakazam. "You see, ever since we learned about your abilities, I injected myself with the DNA of a Ditto, allowing me to change my physical appearance at will." She made her appearance several different and as a result of changing so much, a thick layer of clouds formed around her and hid her from sight, slowly, it began to evaporate.

Ash knew from firsthand experience that the Elite Four members were tough opponents, in fact the toughest that he knew but at the same time, he, Brock, and Misty had traveled and fought by each other's side long enough that he knew they could hold their own against the Elite Four. Ash's Pokémon were Pikachu, Muk, Tauros, Bulbasaur, and Primape. Brock had Geodude, Onix, and Vulpix while Misty had Staryu, Starmie, Gyarados, Psyduck, and Dewgong. "Hey guys, I know you don't like me all that much now. But do you think we can set our differences aside for this battle?" Ash asked.

"Of course Ash." Misty said and stole a sideways glance at him. Ever since he had told her and the other Gym Leaders what he had in mind, she was on the road to forgiving him but she didn't want Ash to know that so soon.

"Why not? We've travelled so much together that I think we'd be too good as a team to let this matter truly affect our fighting style." Brock added before they put their hands together in the middle. Ash nodded happily before he put on his game face and swung his hat around so the bill faced backwards.

"Let's take these guys down!" He declared.

Lance laughed. "Nice try Ash, but we know all your moves with those Pokémon." He said, his Pokémon team consisting of Dragonite, Gyarados, and Aerodactyl.

"Not to mention, we don't view our Pokémon as weak." Agatha imputed, her Pokémon consisting of Gengar, Golbat, Haunter, and Arbok.

"But perhaps this battle will defrost the ice around your heart completely." Lorelei contributed. She had a Slowbro, Cloyster, Jynx, and Dewgong.

"So get ready for the Poké-pounding of your life." Bruno growled. "Go Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee!" He shouted and the battle began.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash called out and managed to shock all the Pokémon on the Elite Four's side, though they were tough enough to withstand most of the attack, even the water Pokémon. "You may know my moves as an individual, but you haven't seen me fighting alongside my friends and when I'm with them, not only are we invincible together, but it changes the entire game plan." Ash stated and having bested each of their opponents, he knew their fighting style.

"Cloyster, Jynx, Dewgong, Ice Beam attack!"

"Vulpix, counter with a Fire Blast!"

It took a few minutes, but the battle was slowly turning towards Ash's, Brock's, and Misty's favor. "We're losing the upper hand." Lorelei stated. "Every move we make towards one Pokémon, there's another to counter to block the attack."

"Then we take out the weakest Pokémon first." Agatha stated and locked her eyes onto Psyduck.

"No Agatha, that's underhanded." Lance said. "Plus they probably would want us to attack Psyduck."

"I don't care. Gengar, attack the Psyduck!" she called out and Gengar attacked Psyduck, which sent it flying across the room. However, when it stood up, the eyes were glowing white. Giving a cry, Psyduck unleashed a powerful Confusion attack before it fainted.

Bruno waited for a moment before laughing heartily. "That was pathetic just like your Pokémon." However, the laugher died in his throat when he saw Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee fighting each other. As he glanced away from his Pokémon, he saw that the others weren't fairing much better. "No! You're not supposed to fight each other; you're suppose to fight the opponent!" He called out but much like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee were giving everything they had to see which one would emerge victorious in the end.

"While they're confused, we might as well finish this." Misty said with a smile after recalling Psyduck.

"Got it Misty." Ash grinned. "Alright Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

"Vulpix, use Flamethrower!"

"Starmie, use Bubblebeam!" They said in unison and the three Pokémon launched their attacks, which caused the Elite Four Pokémon's to get burned, then wet, and finally, electrocuted until they fainted. As the last Pokémon on the Elite Four's side hit the ground, there was a loud explosion that took out the wall leading to the second room and all trainers and Pokémon were covered in dust.

It was tensed in the room, Jessie's Arbok and James' Weezing stared down Junichi's Ivysaur, Beedrill, Radicate, Poliwrath and Magneton as well as Nobuko's Pidgeot, Sandslash, Golduck, Tentacruel, and Kabutops. As it stood, the only Pokémon still standing were Arbok, Weezing, Tentacruel, and Magneton but the four Pokémon were trying to catch their breaths from the last attacks and it was clear they were on the verge of fainting. "Tentacruel, Tentacle Rape!" Nobuko shouted as she pointed at Arbok and she smiled as she watched Tentacruel go into action.

"Weezing, Smokescreen!" James called out and Weezing coughed up smog to hide Arbok. "Now Weezing, Explosion!" James called out and bit his lip as Weezing began to glow white. Due to the smog in the room, the normally large explosion became much larger. But before the explosion hit Jessie, James, and Meowth, Meowth pressed a button on a control panel which caused a barrier to erect around them. Yet the explosion shattered the barrier and sent them flying. "It looks like we're blasting off again!" They shouted as they became a twinkle in the sky. When the dust settled, the room that housed the second Elite Four member had been reduced to rubble with a clear view of the open sky above them. There came a grunting and straining before a piece of the roof shifted off of two people before it was pushed away.

"Thank you Magneton." Junichi said softly before looking down at Nobuko's burned body. Kneeling down, he gently touched her face and was shocked to see that she opened an eye. "You're alive?" He asked and Nobuko nodded before wincing. "I got to get you help." He said before picking her up gently as he could before going through over what remained of the wall before making his way to a Pokécenter.

Alan pushed up his glasses with only his middle finger. He wasn't too worried as he had trained all his Pokémon to be calculating as he was and to pretend they were much weaker than they truly were. "Porygon, Magnemite, Dodrio, Electabuzz, Pinsir, time to step the game up a notch." He called out and his Pokémon acknowledged the command. Due to the battle, Erika's remaining Pokémons were Weepinbell and the Gloom that she had befriended way back when she was a small child. Sabrina had both Haunter and Kadabra but both were showing signs of fatigue. Lt. Surge's Pikachu was panting heavily from using its speed so much while his Raichu was struggling to stay standing, being worn down by the quickness of the other Pokémon since he relied on power instead of speed.

Alan's Pokémon growled as they prepared to deliver the final blow but as they lunged for the weakened Pokémon, they found it hard to move. "What happened?" Alan asked as he looked at each of his Pokémon. "Why don't you fight?" His voice rose.

"It's simple, surely your Pokémon have been paralyzed before?" Erika questioned. "While you were distracted with the battle, I had Gloom use Stun Spore as well as Poison Powder, and Sleep Powder while Weepinbell used Leech Seed." She smiled as Alan watched in horror while his Pokémon were losing energy while the Gym Leader's Pokémon were regaining their energy. "NO! I CAN'T LOSE!" He shouted before the three Gym Leaders ordered their Pokémon to unleash their attacks at the same time. None of their attacks connected though because there was an explosion that caused all the Pokémon to stumble from the force and their attacks going wild. Alan started laughing at his luck until a support beam came down from the ceiling and managed to pin Alan's Pokémon and the smile was wiped off of Alan's face at that.

"We win loser, in America." Lt. Surge said with a triumph smirk on his face before Alan tried to escape, only to be stopped by Sabrina using her psychic powers to hold him in place. Erika then had Gloom use Sleep Powder on Alan to knock him out.

Wolf snarled. He had a Ninetales, Arcanine, Eevee, and a Rhyhorn. Of those four, only Ninetales and Rhyhorn were left standing. He knew he had to do something fast if he wanted to beat his opponents and join his master but he didn't see how he could win at the moment.

Gary had his Blastoise, Arcanine, Eevee, Krabby, and Nidoking. The Eevee, Krabby, and Arcanine had been defeated.

Blaine had fought with a Ninetales, Rhydon, Magmar, and Rapidash. By now only the Magmar and Rapidash remained standing but they weren't that far from fainting themselves.

Koga fought with Venomoth, Scyther, Koffing and Muk but being a mainly Poison user, his Muk was the only one able to move. Thankfully, a Sludge attack had been able to poison Rhyhorn but it didn't help much in the long run. "Blaine, recall your Pokémon so we can heal them." He said.

"No, the moment I do that, he'll take the opportunity to attack you and Gary." Blaine replied.

"That may be so, but if your Pokémon faint as well, then you won't be much help to us anyway." Gary snapped and watched Wolf for the moment the latter made his move, he was going to counter it.

"You may want to listen to the youngsters old man." Wolf said. "Because I guarantee you won't survive long against me." He smirked before letting out a wolf-like howl and then he began changing until a werewolf stood in Wolf's spot. With a quick burst of speed, he managed to take out Gary's Nidoking and Blaine's Rapidash out with one his each.

"What the hell?" Gary asked as he watched the two Pokémon fly over their heads and crash into the wall before he looked back at Wolf.

"You don't think my name was just a name do you?" Wolf growled and he stood on his hind legs and since he was taller by doing that, he looked down at them. "I will even give you a chance to heal all your Pokémon to show you that I can't be beat." He had just finished when a shockwave ran through the room and it caused a piece of the roof to come lose and fall right onto Wolf's head, which caused him to go down in a collapsed heap.

"Um… did we just win?" Koga asked after a second, not believing their luck.

"I think we did." Gary replied and silently thanked whoever set off the explosion.

"Let's make sure he can't break free if he should come to." Blaine suggested and they quickly worked on tying Wolf up.


	19. Chapter 19

Now that the clouds were completely gone, Pixie had changed into a combination of different Pokémon. Her left arm became Scyther, her right arm became Kabutops, her body turned into Jynx, she sprouted the giant leaf of Venusaur, her hair flowed much like the gasses pat of Gastly, her eyes took on the shape of a Sandslash, the right leg came from Mewtwo, her left leg came Hitmonlee, her head morphed into that of a Charizard, the tail was from Dragonair with Raichu's lightning bolt on the tip and finally, two large wings that belonged to Pidgeot as well as a smaller set of wings for Scyther and Charizard.

"No way, that's impossible!" Yuki stated as he looked at where Pixie stood.

"Hey guys, I just realized, she has at least one of every type of Pokémon on her." Aki said as the realization drawn on him.

"Correct, and I have the ability to use any attack I wish to." Pixie smirked before pointing her arm to the roof and firing off a Hyper Beam so it tore through the roof and let sunlight through. "Come and get me if you dare." She laughed and used her six wings to fly through the newly created hole.

"We can't let her escape." Aki said as he looked to the sky.

"I agree, but I don't think she plans to escape right away." Tsubasa said as she recalled her Pokémon and summoned Fearow. "Fearow, come out." She said as the white light faded and Fearow stretched its wings while letting out a cry. "Fearow, merge with me." She said softly as she petted his beak before they were surrounded by a white light and when it faded, her body remained mostly the same but she gained Fearow's wings, her pants changed to match Fearow's tail as a skirt, her left hand was encompass by a sharp beak and her hair had one strip of auburn appear right down the center.

"Right, might as well join the fight the same way Yuki." Aki said with a wink as he recalled his Pokémon and called out Moltres. Climbing onto Moltres' back, he initiated the special bond he shared with his Pokémon and could feel the fire arcing around him but he didn't get burned by it. However, his clothes changed color to matched Moltres' color scheme and he gained a helmet of fire as well as two lances, one for each hand. "When did this happen?" he asked and looked at the fire lances.

"I think it's because your bond is getting stronger Aki." Tsubasa commented as she looked him over.

"It's possible." Yuki said as he recalled his Pokémon. "We can experiment later, but now we have business to do." Looking down at Vaporeon, he bent down and picked her up. _"Are you ready to do this?"_ He asked her through their connection.

"_Ready as you are."_ Vaporeon said with a smile and she licked Yuki's cheek. After finding her comfortable position on Yuki's shoulders, Yuki summoned the psychic energy within him. Not much changed, but his eyes turned purple and the white button down shirt turned purple as well. "You know, all the times I've used my powers, it's been on the ground and I've always used a flying Pokémon to stay in the air, so this will be different for me as well." With a light push, the three heroes followed after Pixie, only to find her no too far away.

"I hope you have said your prayers and good-byes for this will be the last thing that you do." She said before laughing and launching a Flamethrower at them, causing them to break apart.

"Sorry Pixie, but we're taking you down." Yuki said and Vaporeon fired off a Water Gun but Pixie set of a Light Screen that blocked the attack.

Aki dive-bombed Pixie from the other side but she wiped around and used Water Gun to extinguish the fire lance and forced him to veer off.

Tsubasa then took a slash at Pixie but she simply ducked before leaning back to avoiding the sword in Tsubasa's hand and then she had several Thunderbolts try and fry Tsubasa and while she avoided most, she was almost hit but the Thunderbolt hit a Light Screen that Yuki had thrown up.

Meanwhile back on the ground, the Elite Four, Gym Leaders (minus Giovanni), Gary and Ash all watched the battle unfolding in the sky. "Is there anything we can do to help them?" Ash asked after the heroes had been kicked around a few times.

"Even if we could, we might only get in the way." Gary replied as he held Misty's hand, both fearing for their daughter.

"But still, we can at least provide more directions from which to attack." Ash countered.

"I hear you Ash." Lance said. "But if we're up there, there is also more of a risk that we'd hit each other. I'm afraid we'll just have to sit this one out." With that said, Ash slumped down on the steps leading to the Indigo Plateau.

"But is there nothing that we can do from here?" Misty asked. "I don't mean to attack Pixie, but something to be ready instead of just standing here doing nothing."

"We can pray the kids come out alright." Agatha said while leaning on her cane.

"What about making sure we have beds and food for them?" Erika suggested and Ash jumped up.

"I'll go." Ash volunteered, thankful to actually be able to do something more than just wait around.

"Thank you, we'll make sure everything still runs smooth out here." Erika said.

"Ash, do you want me to come with you?" Gary asked but Ash shook his head.

"No, stay here with Misty." Ash replied. "I think she may need you more than I do. Come on Pikachu!" A brief moment passed between them and Gary nodded before Ash took off running.

"Doesn't the Elite Four have a lounging area inside the building?" Blaine asked and Lorelei shook her head.

"No, we've been meaning to add that feature but we never got around to it." She admitted. "In fact, we don't actually spend all the time here, our offices are connected to the Indigo Plateau, but they're a bit of ways away."

"Although we have a perfect opportunity to rebuild now." Bruno said with a chuckle. "This will be a good work out for me."

"Let's make the plans later, for now we should make sure to be there for those kids." Lance added and it got the group quiet for a bit.

Tsubasa and the guys were panting heavily. "It's no good, every attack we do she either counters or sends them back at us." All three of them supported multiple cuts, some bleeding, and various elemental damages on them.

"That's true, but we can't give up now." Yuki said and scratched Vaporeon's head.

"The only thing we haven't tried is to hit her at the same time." Aki said. "It's worth a shot." He said and after a second, Yuki nodded.

Together as one, the three of them charged Pixie. She waited until they launched their attacks before she teleported directly in front of them. Grabbing Yuki's arm, she swung him around so he collided with the other two before changing the direction of her swing and throwing them down to the ground where they slammed into the ground.

The rest of the group ran over to make sure they were still alright, and much to their relief, they were still alive. "Are you three alright?" Lt. Surge asked, asking the obvious dumb question.

Yuki shook his head and pointed to the sky where Pixie was getting ready to attack again.

"Bruno, Agatha, Lorelei, distract her with random attacks!" Lance said as he called out Gyarados and it was soon joined by Hitmonchan, Gengar, and Cloyster. "Gyarados, use Dragon Rage!"

"Hitmonchan, use Ice Punch!"

"Gengar, use Psychic!"

"Cloyster, use Aurora Beam!"

The four Pokémon launched their attacks and they began to move Pixie's attention away from the fallen heroes to give them time to recover, despite the attacks not doing much.

After a couple of minutes, Yuki struggled but stood up and Tsubasa and Aki supported each other to get on their feet.

"You three can't be thinking about going back into the fight?" Brock asked.

"We have to." Yuki said as he looked towards Pixie for a moment before looking at Brock. "If we don't, none of us are going to survive."

"But you guys aren't getting anywhere." Koga stated.

"We know, but we have to keep on trying." Aki replied.

"Please, let us go." Tsubasa said softly and though it was meant for the whole group, the hidden request to her parents couldn't be fully covered.

"But Tsubasa-" Misty started but stopped when she felt Gary's hand on her shoulder.

"They're determined enough; we can't hold them back as much as we want to." Gary said. "But I just wish we could help." From each of the Gym Leaders, they felt something warm in their pocket and when they pulled the objects out, they saw their badges were glowing. Gary also felt something warm and found that the Earth Badge was glowing as well.

"With the might of the Earth Badge."

"With the fluid motion of the Cascade Badge."

"The swiftness of lightning, the Thunder Badge"

"Like a rainbow, there are multiple emotions one must go through in life; the Rainbow Badge reflects that in you."

"The knowledge and strength to wade through life's challenges, the Marsh Badge."

"From the Soul Badge, it teaches one that it's impossible to go through life with a dead weight, if one is to experience the joys of life."

"With the fire that comes from within to succeed, the Volcano Badge"

"The will to protect the earth, the Earth Badge brings it out from you."

As one, the Gym Leaders pointed their respective badges towards the heroes and the light shone from the badge in the color on them, a golden color surrounded the four.

"What's going on?" Aki asked and they saw a girl in white standing next to a Venusaur. "Kiiro, is that you?" he asked and she nodded.

"Don't worry, you're not dead yet, I just came over to offer you my strength." Kiiro said with a smile before touching each of their heads. "Look at yourselves." She instructed and they did so, seeing that they were fully healed. "I'm sorry, this energy boost is only temporary but it should get you through the battle." She and Venusaur started to fade into the golden light. "Aki, make sure you live for me as well." She said and faded completely.

"I promise to." Aki promised as the golden light became too bright for them to keep their eyes opened. When they reopened their eyes, they found they were back in the real world and they looked at each other before standing up.

"Let's go. Thank you for your help" Yuki said to the Gym Leaders with a smile and Vaporeon thanked them as well. "We'll be back before you know it." The process of combining with their powers seemed almost instantaneous and they took to the sky once more.

"What do we have here?" Pixie asked as she sensed the four of them behind her. Turning around, she was mildly surprised to see Yuki, Vaporeon, Aki, and Tsubasa. "Well, well, well. Are you back for more punishment or have you accepted your fate and come to die by my hand?"

"Neither Pixie." Tsubasa said calmly as she watched the monstrosity that was Pixie.

"Then what are you going to do about it?" Pixie asked seconds before launching a combined Solarbeam and Hyper beam attack at them. The attack exploded causing everyone on the ground to gasp in horror, including Ash who had just gotten back, but when the smoke faded there was a magenta color barrier that faded out and the teens were unharmed. "That's impossible."

"No it's not Pixie." Aki said with a grin. "You see, we found something that you don't have and it's going to make all the difference in this fight."

"And to be honest," Yuki continued, "it's because we have the strength of our friends behind us."

"Yeah, like anyone believes in that crap anymore." Pixie said with a bored tone of voice seconds before stepping backwards to narrowly avoid having her head cut off by Tsubasa's sword. "You little bitch!" She spat before flapping her wings to avoid a fire and psychic attack. "You'll never be able to beat me, no matter what you do."

"I think we will Pixie." Yuki said with a confident smile. "Vaporeon, Tsubasa, Aki, let's finish this." He said and they nodded before they launched into attacking Pixie. This time the battle quickly turned in their favor and in only a few short minutes, they managed to trap Pixie between the three of them. "NOW!" Yuki shouted and fired off a blast of psychic energy, Vaporeon used Hydro Pump, Aki did the equivalent of a Fire Blast and Tsubasa used the wind to create a much stronger Gust attack.

Pixie screamed as all the attacks hit her and she was just barely conscious when the attacks ended. "Is that the best you can do?" She asked and started to morph her body into a different combination of Pokémon but then she screamed in pain. "HELP ME! I CAN'T CONTROL IT ANYMORE!" She shouted as her body transformed constantly until she started to melt as her body couldn't keep up with the constant changing. Her last act was to let out a blood-curling scream and then she was gone.

Aki, Tsubasa, Vaporeon, and Yuki waited to make sure it wasn't a trick before they closed the distance between them and congratulated each other as they went down towards the earth. Their feet touched solid ground and the abilities faded from them as well as the energy boost which revealed their damaged bodies but at the moment, none of them cared. They heard joyous shouting and turned to see the Gym Leaders and Ash running towards them but it was then the exhaustion hit and the four of them collapsed into the others arms.

Unseen by anyone in the shadows of the Indigo Plateau, Kiiro smiled as she rubbed Venusaur's head. "I'm glad they really did it. I knew they could, just wished it hadn't taken them so long to find the answer." She giggled and Venusaur agreed. "Come on, might as well make our exit since we know they're safe." With that, she walked into the sunlight and disappeared alongside Venusaur.


	20. Chapter 20

Ten Years Later:

Life is still going good in the world of Pokémon. Let's see, I probably should fill everyone in on the events that transpired after the famous battle.

Two weeks after the battle, Aki and I battled the Elite Four and we both defeated them so it was agreed that the two of us would battle it out to see who would be the Pokémon Master. In the end, I forfeited the match much to everyone surprise but it had never been my goal to be the Pokémon Master. No, my goal was to catch all 150 Pokémon, which I have successfully done with the exception of the Pokémon I share with Aki and Tsubasa and Mewtwo.

About a month after that, Ami and I had a daughter, who looks like the splitting image of her mother when she's in her human form (apparently have sex with a Pokémon in human form can lead to impregnation, it being carried over to the Pokémon's actual form. Not that I'm complaining or anything) and we named her Luka. The only thing is that she has my eyes, which I'm happy about. On the subject of me and Vaporeon/Ami, most people see use as a trainer and Pokémon that are really close, only those close to us know the real truth. In fact, when anyone else other than our closest friends are over, she is always in the Pokémon form and only becomes human when our friends are over.

Gary Oak took charge of the Viridian City Gym while continuing to do his research when he can and while he always complains about it being hard work, he always makes time to help anyone that asks for it.

Ash stepped down from being the Pokémon Master, almost seemingly glad to give the title to Aki. Of course, he also made peace with us (mainly Gary, Tsubasa and Misty) before announcing that he was going to explore the Unova region. Having left all his Pokémon but Pikachu at Professor Oak's lab, he left shortly after and we learn about different Pokémon every day as he's constantly catching more and describing them to us.

Jessie, James, and Meowth are doing well. They joined the police force and are in charge of hunting down any Team Rocket members, an advantage for them since they know the most about Team Rocket. When they aren't searching for any Team Rockets, they can usually be found selling souvenirs and putting on comedic plays based on what happened to them.

Junichi and Nobuko haven't given us any trouble since we thought they were killed. It turns out Junichi's Magneton created a sonic boom to deflect most of the blast and that's why they survived. As a result of almost losing each other (though they did lose all their Pokémon as a result), they turned over a new leaf and occasionally help Jessie and James to sniff out any Team Rocket members. Still, they keep mostly to themselves and won't tell anyone where they are and in exchange, we don't exactly go looking for them either.

Team Rocket moved to Johto and tried to weave the wicked schemes there, but they soon disbanded after being stopped by another kid and since then, they've been quiet.

The Gym Leaders all returned to their respective gyms but as a result of that day, they're more closer than before. Blaine is the only one really looking for someone to take over his gym and he managed to find someone not too long ago.

Tsubasa continues to wander the world looking for new Pokémon as she's the kind of girl that can't stay in one place too long unless there's a damn good reason to stay. On occasion, she'll merge with a flying Pokémon before going out to find a battle any many people think she's wearing a costume, a comment like that and you're generally sure to lose the battle. Though she dances around the subject, she has a crush on a young man but won't say who it is, although I have a pretty good idea that it's a certain fire type user.

Aki has probably been the most successful of the three of us. After deciding the work of being the Pokémon Master was too much, he gave the title to Lance and decided to live on Cinnabar Island, being the seventh Gym Leader and holder of the Volcano Badge. Due to this shift, Koga took on the role of being one of the Elite Four while his daughter took his place as the Fuchsia City Gym Leader.

As I said before, we had a daughter and now she's ten-years-old, meaning she's really to start her Pokémon journey and boy is she ready. In honor of Kiiro coming to save us at the last moment, she chose Bulbasaur as her starter Pokémon and has already left, in fact reaching Viridian City. Since much of our time the last ten years has been devoted to her, we suddenly find we have much more free time now. Back when I started, I never thought I'd want to settle down with a family, I wanted to always explore new areas but now, I'm glad my life turned out this way and I wouldn't change it for the world. Today also marks the eleventh anniversary of me meeting Vaporeon back when she was an Eevee and looking back, I would gladly do everything all over again.

Sincerely,

Yuki Snow

Fin.

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